Now, Antarctica and the waters around it are surprisingly free of invasive species. However, that situation could change in the not-too-distant future, thanks to the incredible level of connectivity with ports around the world, according to new research. Ships can unk thai. New research traced the paths of various research ships, cruise ships and fishing boats through the icy waters of Antarctica.
According to Arlie McCarthy, a researcher in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey, these ships carry the risk of unwanted visitors. And travelers may have more opportunities to relocate than we thought.
“We know from other cold parts of the world, including the Arctic, that the stuff that grows on the hulls of ships is completely transported from one place to another, and that is one of the sources,” McCarthy said. introduce major marine worldwide. Ars. “We also know that ships going into Antarctica have a lot of things growing on them. What we don’t know so far are the fine details of where those ships go. “
McCarthy’s research shows that there are 1,581 ports around the world that have connections to Antarctica. These are the ports from which at least one vessel enters the area, defined as south of -60 degrees latitude, as established by Antarctic Treaty. To determine this, she and her team looked at shipping data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, an old and reliable source of marine data, port call data and raw satellite data. It allowed her to track the vessel’s activity from 2014 to 2018.
“They’re connected in some way to Antarctica,” McCarthy said, referring to the ports. This means that a multitude of species such as crabs, parrots, and algae from a large number of places can appear in the area. As global shipping increases — and as researchers and tourists continue to enter these waters — the potential for invasive species hold well developed. There is also concern about the movement of certain species from North to Antarctica, potentially appearing on cruise or research ships. Species from the Arctic are likely to be more cold-adapted and may thrive in the cold Antarctic than species brought from somewhere south of the equator.
Antarctic waters are largely free of invasive marine species — there are a few invasive species grass and insect—And the ocean is more isolated than many other oceans. That is largely due to the neighboring Southern Ocean, where currents revolve around Antarctica. They are particularly strong and form a kind of barrier. “Anything coming in currents from the oceans further north, they can be deflected away from Antarctica rather than actually entering the Southern Ocean. They stop most things from entering watercourses,” said McCarthy, adding that seals and whales are likely to cross these streams, even when mussels, seahorses and algae are normally blocked. again.
Because the area is so cold, many so-called home organisms are living more or less at the edge of what is physiologically possible. There is less food than elsewhere, and many organisms have adapted very specialized behaviors to survive, so invasive species can do more damage than they do where there is plenty of food and warmth. than. For example, some life forms in Antarctica have developed polar gigantism, meaning they grow large, live slowly, and die old. Smaller, faster, and more rapidly breeding species from elsewhere — assuming they can survive Antarctica — could compete with the original inhabitants.
