In a heartbreaking world-first clip of the Antarctic seafloor, the destruction created by ship anchors has been revealed.
And our presence in the Antarctic is destroying what was once a pristine ecosystem.
The shocking facts were uncovered in a new study where marine scientists discovered that ships are the culprits of serious damage being done to the Antarctic sea.
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In particular, it revealed how ships’ anchors are destroying the seabed which is tearing up entire ecosystems.
In a statement, Matthew Mulrennan, who is the first study author, a marine scientist and founder of KOLOSSAL, which is an ocean exploration and conservation nonprofit in California, said: “This is the first time the impacts of ship anchoring and chain damage are documented in Antarctic waters. Activities in Antarctica have a lot of strict rules around conservation, yet ship anchoring is almost completely unregulated.”
Mulrennan went on to say: “The weird and wonderful animals that are impacted, like sponges, are important for filtering water, carbon sequestration, and providing shelter, food, and complex habitats which benefit the whole marine ecosystem, including penguins and seals – the animals tourists come to see.”
Co-author Dr Sally Watson, who is a marine geophysicist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, added: “Documentation is way overdue, given the importance of these ecosystems and the protections we place on them. Anchoring impacts are understudied and underestimated globally. It’s so important to recognize and mitigate the impacts across all industries and limit planned anchoring.”
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While the number of vessels in the region are yet to be reliably recorded, it’s believed that there are at least 195 tourism, research, fishing vessels and private yachts that anchor in Antarctica in one season.
However, it is highly likely that more ships operate in the area without licences.
Watson continued: “We know that anchor impacts in tropical reefs can last a decade. In muddy sediment, the scars can still be visible over a decade later. Ecological recovery is really site-specific. Things in cold waters are much slower growing than in warmer temperatures, so I expect that recovery would take longer the higher the latitude.”
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Mulrennan said: “Anchoring is likely the most overlooked ocean conservation issue in terms of global seafloor disruption; it is on par with the damages from bottom trawling. It’s a pressing environmental issue, but it’s out of sight, out of mind.”
Now, scientists hope to carry out more research into the impacts of anchoring in order to gain a better idea of how it damages the seafloor.