Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea
Underwater biological surveys have been conducted around the Antarctic continent for several decades, and our knowledge of the species present in the shallow waters (<50 m) is reasonably comprehensive. However, the waters below 50 m remain underexplored on the account of difficulty of access, fin...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Norwegian Polar Institute
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Polar Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/8873/15289 |
| _version_ | 1811172136454193152 |
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| author | Daniel M. Moore Anne Elina Flink Eva Prendergast Antony Gilbert |
| author_facet | Daniel M. Moore Anne Elina Flink Eva Prendergast Antony Gilbert |
| author_sort | Daniel M. Moore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Underwater biological surveys have been conducted around the Antarctic continent for several decades, and our knowledge of the species present in the shallow waters (<50 m) is reasonably comprehensive. However, the waters below 50 m remain underexplored on the account of difficulty of access, financial barriers and relatively few operational platforms capable of deployment to such depths. Here, we demonstrate that personal submersibles, now increasingly deployed by the expedition cruise industry, can be vessels of opportunity for biological research in the polar regions. We describe direct observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea at water depths of 80–280 m in Antarctic Peninsula coastal waters as an example of the potential that personal submersibles present for the scientific community, and we outline possible research avenues for utilizing these platforms in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T17:25:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a892bce196dc40fd9b8aa0f58a8a4bba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0800-0395 1751-8369 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T17:25:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Norwegian Polar Institute |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polar Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-a892bce196dc40fd9b8aa0f58a8a4bba2023-02-04T12:48:21ZengNorwegian Polar InstitutePolar Research0800-03951751-83692023-01-01421610.33265/polar.v42.88738873Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa giganteaDaniel M. Moore0Anne Elina Flink1Eva Prendergast2Antony Gilbert3Viking Expeditions, Hamilton, BermudaViking Expeditions, Hamilton, BermudaViking Expeditions, Hamilton, BermudaViking Expeditions, Hamilton, BermudaUnderwater biological surveys have been conducted around the Antarctic continent for several decades, and our knowledge of the species present in the shallow waters (<50 m) is reasonably comprehensive. However, the waters below 50 m remain underexplored on the account of difficulty of access, financial barriers and relatively few operational platforms capable of deployment to such depths. Here, we demonstrate that personal submersibles, now increasingly deployed by the expedition cruise industry, can be vessels of opportunity for biological research in the polar regions. We describe direct observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea at water depths of 80–280 m in Antarctic Peninsula coastal waters as an example of the potential that personal submersibles present for the scientific community, and we outline possible research avenues for utilizing these platforms in the future.https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/8873/15289submarinepolarmedusacitizen sciencejellyfishtourism |
| spellingShingle | Daniel M. Moore Anne Elina Flink Eva Prendergast Antony Gilbert Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea Polar Research submarine polar medusa citizen science jellyfish tourism |
| title | Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea |
| title_full | Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea |
| title_fullStr | Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea |
| title_short | Personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to Antarctic waters: an example, with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan Stygiomedusa gigantea |
| title_sort | personal submersibles offer novel ecological research access to antarctic waters an example with observations of the rarely encountered scyphozoan stygiomedusa gigantea |
| topic | submarine polar medusa citizen science jellyfish tourism |
| url | https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/8873/15289 |
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