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Antarctica Put to the Acid Test

By Maggie Amsler
The great white continent of Antarctica and its encircling frigid Southern Ocean is one of the most remote and pristine regions of the planet and as such lends itself to a natural laboratory.  It is also now one of the planet’s most threatened regions due to climate change.  I recently completed a four-month research expedition investigating the effects of climate change on the marine communities in the local, shallow waters.  Local meaning Palmer Station, a US research facility on Anvers Island off the western Antarctic Peninsula, which served as both home and laboratory. 
 

My team and I were not studying the direct effects of the documented increase in air temperature over Antarctica or increase in the Southern Ocean water temperature, yet was reminded of it daily. …

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Uncategorized |

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Ocean Stories: Data from the Twilight Zone

By Mae Dorricott

With my face glued to the car window, mouth agape, making “ooos” and “aahhhs”, I kept my colleagues Vaughn and Kayem well amused as they drove myself and Sonia through the stunning scenery of Pohnpei to Nihco Marine Park. This place was to be our base and home for Sonia’s annual expedition to explore the twilight zone of Pohnpei and sister atoll’s reefs.

I was invited along on the expedition by Dr. Sonia Rowley, one out of three people to win the David Attenborough Award for field work. She is well deserving of this award as her research in the twilight zone takes her to depths of 140 m, the area of the reef where light begins to dwindle away.…

Posted in .Homepage, Featured, Partner Stories |

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