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9Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Brad Witt, Former President Trump, Henry Heimuller, Joe Biden, Pat Robertson, Ted Cruz, Joe Biden’s dogs, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Bill’s Standard Disclaimer
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Newly Discovered Ice Fish Nursery Shackleton’s Lost Ship “The Endurance”
Two cool discoveries found in the Antarctica Sea. One nature, one man made. Scientists onboard an icebreaker in Antarctica were stunned when they discovered a trove of 60 million icefish nests dotting the floor of the Weddell Sea. The abundance of nurseries were each guarded by a ghostlike looking parent represents the largest known breeding colony of fish. The German icebreaker, called the RV Polarstern ,were keeping a watch for whales, but were also monitoring the ocean floor, when they discovered the icefish nurseries. Scientists were watching a live video feed from the Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS), which is a one-ton camera towed behind the ship. On the video feed, they could see fish nests pockmarking the seafloor about every 10 inches in all directions and covering an area of 93 square miles. The camera was moving across the seafloor and the nurseries just didn't stop. They were everywhere. The nests were bowls impressed in the mud on the seafloor by notothenioid icefish, which are native to the frigid southern oceans. They are the only known vertebrates to completely lack hemoglobin in their blood. Because of this, icefish are considered white-blooded. Icefish tend to nest in groups, but the most ever seen before was approximately forty nests. This nesting site, after extensive surveying, has an estimated 60 million nests. Scientists have never seen anything like this. Most of those nests were attended by one adult fish watching over an average of 1,700 eggs. The researchers were in the general area because they were studying an upwelling of water that was 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the surrounding water. Their objective was to see how carbon goes from the surface to the sea floor and what communities are in the water column. Inside the upsurge column of water, they found microscopic zooplankton near the surface, where young icefish, after hatching, swim to feast on the floating buffet before returning to the seafloor to breed. Because of the food, the presence of icefish in the upwelling was to be expected. In addition to living fish guarding nests, the scientists found that the area was littered with fish carcasses as well, suggesting that this massive icefish colony is an important part of the local ecosystem, most likely serving as food for Weddell seals. The discovery of the colony has led to an effort to make it a Marine Protected Area under the international Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Strangely, the icefish colony seems to have a distinct border. The nurseries went from very, very dense to nothing, much like penguin colonies. It was like a line in the sand where no one crossed. That line in the sand, they found, was the outer edge of the warm upwelling. While more research is needed to conclude whether this is chance, the upwelling seems to create a rare and ideal environment for the icefish to breed. Before leaving the area, the crew of the Polarstern left two cameras to observe the inner workings of this rare ecosystem. The team plans to return to the Weddell Sea in April 2022. The wonders of earth and how creatures evolve to thrive in what we consider harsh conditions. Is still a wonderment to us. New discoveries everyday should prove to mankind that we need to do better in protecting the Big Blue Marble we call home. Earth is absolutely amazing. Other mysteries of the Antarctica Sea A team of searchers on board the South African polar research vessel Agulhas II finally located the wreck on Saturday (March 5), by coincidence the hundredth anniversary of Ernest Shackleton's funeral in 1922. They have successfully completed the world's most difficult shipwreck search, battling constantly shifting sea-ice, blizzards, and temperatures dropping down to minus 0.4 F. They have achieved what many people said was impossible. The wreck of the steam-yacht Endurance, which famously sank in 1915 during an Antarctic expedition by the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, has been rediscovered by searchers using independent underwater vehicles. The shipwreck was found at a depth of 9,869 feet beneath West Antarctica's Weddell Sea, according to the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust (FMHT), which sponsored the search. That's only about 4 nautical miles south of the location fixed by the ship's captain, Frank Worsley, who used a sextant to record the location of its sinking after several months of the ship being surrounded and eventually crushed by ice. Shackleton recorded that the ship was crushed by masses of surrounding sea ice in its final weeks, which tipped it over, stove in several planks in the stern and caused its timbers to groan, crack, and scream. But the nearly-found wreck of the Endurance seems remarkably well-preserved, in spite of its trials. And is considered a Milestone in Polar History. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see the name 'Endurance' arced across the stern. It is one of the best preserved wooden ships ever found. The rediscovery is the result of years of searching for the wreck of the Endurance, which became famous partly because of the dramatic photographs of its sinking and the amazing journey of survival that followed. But the wreck is located only a few hundred miles from the coast of Antarctica; the region is often completely covered with sea ice, which has forced previous search efforts to turn back. The ice is a force to reckon with. In prior centuries and modern times as well. The wreck of the Endurance was found by a Saab Sabertooth hybrid underwater vehicle controlled by operators on the Agulhas II. The robotic vehicles can operate either on a tether or autonomously. After more than two weeks of searching a predefined search area based on Worsley's original sextant fixes, Agulhas II spotted the wreck, according to the FMHT. The FMHT notes that the wreck is protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty, and said it would not be touched or disturbed in any way while it is being surveyed from the Agulhas II. Shackleton used Endurance on his third of four expeditions to Antarctica. He had visited the frozen southern continent twice before, from 1901 to 1903 as a secondary of the polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott, during which time he took part in the first hot-air balloon flight from Antarctica and then from 1907 until 1909, when his team reached the estimated location of the South Magnetic Pole. A team led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the geographic South Pole on Dec. 14, 1911, a few weeks ahead of a team led by Scott, which ended in tragedy. Shackleton's goal in 1915 was to complete the first complete crossing of the Antarctic continent, by dog-sled from the Weddell Sea via the South Pole to Ross Island in the Ross Sea. A distance of about 1,800 miles. The Endurance was meant to deliver Shackleton and his team to the southern coast of the Weddell Sea for the overland expedition. But the ship became trapped in heavy sea ice in October 1915, and the crew abandoned it and moved everything they could onto their camp on the ice floes. After the Endurance sank, Shackleton and the other 27 members of his crew attempted to reach land by dogsled and eventually on lifeboats they had rescued from the ship. In April 1915, they reached Elephant Island at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula; Shackleton and five members of the crew then set out in one of the lifeboats through the stormy, freezing seas, for a whaling station on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Shackleton returned to Elephant Island on a rescue ship shortly after, and astonishing all 28 of his crew survived the treacherous voyage. Antarctica still remains an uncharted land of wonder and remarkable undiscovered treasures.
Tammy
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