Feb 16 2009
The first extensive study of underwater marine life in Antarctica has revealed it is home to 7,500 animals, prompting WWF-Australia to call for an urgent expansion of marine protected areas in the region.
The study – 2009 Census of Marine Life – revealed that 235 of the animals were also found in oceans around the Arctic, indicating that while Antarctica’s circumpolar current creates a protective barrier for the vast majority of species, some chance events have connected the polar oceans in the past.
The Antarctic current isolates species from warmer oceans, and also creates frigid temperatures that cause natural selection to come up with novel survival mechanisms like the antifreeze blood of several deep sea fishes.
“Antarctica is a cradle of life for polar species,” said Rob Nicoll, WWF-Australia, Antarctica and Southern Ocean Initiative Manager. “In particular, the research shows it is an evolutionary garden for octopus, sea spiders and other bizarre deep sea creatures.
“The fact that scientists found a number of species common to both Antarctica and the Arctic indicates that the polar oceans are effective safe havens for species that arrive by chance.”
The study also found that the warming of the oceans due to climate change was forcing cold-ocean species to move towards the poles.
The remarkable range of species has remained hidden for so long because many assumed the polar seas were like marine deserts. However it now appears that the harsh environment of the polar sea has been an engine of evolution offering the right ingredients of isolation and a wide range of habitats.
WWF believes these isolated habitats are threatened by climate change, which is driving ocean acidification and increasing temperatures around the poles.
“It’s yet another reason why the world's governments need to commit to deep emissions cuts at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December,” said Nicoll, “otherwise, scientific expeditions like this will simply create a list of species in our oceans that will perish due to climate change.”
The threat of climate change comes on top of other threats to the Antarctic’s marine biodiversity from invasive species, oil spills and pollution through shipping activities and the actions of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing vessels that flaunt international rules.
“Networks of marine protected areas are urgently needed as the backbone of a conservation strategy for the Polar Oceans,” Nicoll said.
“At the last meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctica Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) governments again dragged their heels over designating meaningful large areas for protection in the Southern Ocean. With International Polar Year drawing to a close we need real action and not more rhetoric.”