Scientists onboard record-breaking Antarctic expedition find abundance of life

Researchers onboard a Greenpeace International expedition to identify vulnerable ecosystems on the Antarctic seafloor have conducted the southernmost scientific submarine dive in history.

Scientists witnessed an "incredible abundance of life, including corals and other vulnerable species" and will use findings as evidence to call for the area to receive special protection at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

The expedition managed to enter the remote Weddell Sea as Antarctic sea ice reached the lowest extent on satellite record.

Submarine pilot, John Hocevar of Greenpeace's Protect the Oceans campaign, said: "The deep world we saw down there would normally be covered by ice, it was an incredible abundance of life. But there's now less ice in Antarctic waters than at any time in recorded history.

"Since the last record was broken in 2017, an area of sea ice roughly the size of Switzerland has disappeared. This ice used to protect this precious region, now we need governments to. We urgently need ocean sanctuaries created across Antarctic waters to protect this crucial ecosystem and give it space to recover."

Dr. Susanne Lockhart, research associate at the California Academy of Sciences and leading scientist of the expedition, added: "It was amazing to see how much life there was on a part of the seafloor normally sealed in darkness by sea ice for miles in any direction.

"We were witness to not just a surprising abundance of life but also an incredible diversity of corals and other highly vulnerable species."

The latest IPCC report calls for 30% to 50% of the world's oceans to be protected. The report also claims climate change has caused substantial damage and increasingly irreversible losses to marine ecosystems. The extent and magnitude of climate change impacts are larger than estimated in previous assessments.

The Weddell Sea is the site of a vast proposed Marine Protected Area (MPA) or "ocean sanctuary".

This current expedition is part of Greenpeace's campaign to protect at least 30% of the global oceans by 2030, ahead of plans for the United Nations to agree on a Global Ocean Treaty.