This one is not filed. So we're going to have
to see how we're feeling. And I always say that
at the beginning of the mini and by the time
the mini is done at like four minutes or five
minutes, we forget to file it. So let's see if
we remember by the end of it. It is Wednesday.
Anyway, this one is by I don't know. It's a symbol
news abc .net .au Australia from the 8th of June.
And this one is Video of Antarctic seafloor damage
by anchors a warning to tourism sector. Interesting.
Right? That's why I said that I had to choose
this one. Matthew Mulrennan was trying to find
and film the elusive colossal squid in Antarctica
when his underwater footage revealed something
worrying in the deep. The footage revealed a
seafloor scoured of life with deep grooves that
suggested damage by by anchor chains, quote,
you could clearly see this delineation between
where there was abundant marine life and where
the chain and anchor had disrupted seafloor,
end quote, Mr. Mulrennan said. It is the first
video evidence of environmental damage in the
sensitive polar region. Mr. Mulrennan and colleagues
reported on Monday in the frontiers in conservation
science, an estimated 4 ,000 species live on
the Antarctic coast. seafloor with around 90
percent unique to the southern continent's waters.
Mr. Mulrennan said most visitors might go there
for the penguin seals and whales, but the region's
biodiversity was more like an iceberg. Quote,
almost all of its underwater, he said. It's part
of the environment that isn't totally Arctic,
I guess, is a way to say it. Like it's not the
wind blowing at you. Like water keeps a good
temperature. Yeah. And like when you think of
the north, that water is full of life like there's
seals, there's narwhals, there's galuga whales.
I'm guessing the south is just like that. It
would have to be and it's not something that
people necessarily think about either. No. In
any part of the ocean it makes you think about
what else is going on in other parts of the ocean
so I'm gonna go on and then let's talk about
it after. The animals that are there are very
vulnerable. Some grow to extreme years of age
including giant volcano sponges which we found
right next to the anchor damage I'm actually
gonna send you in general you can look at the
photos not everyone listening obviously it makes
sense too because I've heard that those seas
can be rough so you do actually like have to
anchor I don't know that you ever wouldn't anchor
especially when you have tourists and you're
tendering and stuff you would have to tender
in Antarctica get off the ship to a smaller one
and you take zodiacs and stuff like that mister
so there's some pictures in the video video for
you. Mr. Mulrennan, a marine scientist and founder
of a not -for -profit conservation group, Colossal,
was on a tourist ship visiting Antarctica in
2023 when he took the footage. Concerned about
what he saw, he contacted marine geophysicist
and anchor chain damage researcher Sally Watson
from the New Zealand National Institute of Water
and Atmospheric Research. Interesting. There's
an actual person researching that. He kind of
led us to believe that there's no one looking
at it. Dr. Watson confirmed the linear grooves
and harsh gouges recorded in the popular destination
Yankee Harbour next to the Antarctic island were
consistent with damage caused by anchors in their
chains. Mr. Mulrennan and Dr. Watson said the
findings raised concerns about anchoring by research
and fishing vessels as well as growing tourism
industry in Antarctica. They said more regulation
and collecting of anchoring data was needed ahead
of a projected quadrupling of tourists from 452
,000 people a year visiting Antarctica by 2033
-2034. That's a lot of people. Geez, that's a
city. Yeah. So let's talk about... I always thought
it was a lot smaller. Well, it is compared to
all the other places that cruise ships are taking.
Chelsea, I watched the video in the link you
sent me and giant volcano sponges are massive.
I did not expect them to look like that. And
apparently they can reach an age of 15 ,000 years.
which is just bizarre yeah they're considered
the oldest animals on the planet i had no idea
there you just got something for a dinner party
i know you guys are always looking for something
like that how many dinner parties do you guys
need so many we talk to only the classiest people
is what I gotta believe and I'm complimenting
them right now. Let's talk about how exactly
the anchors damage the oceans because that's
something that got me a little bit interested
in this as well. Anchors can be meters wide and
crush the living things they land on but it's
the chain connecting the anchor to the ship that
often does the most damage as it drags laterally
across the seabed. Many Antarctic seabed animals
grow slowly in the same place over centuries
making them vulnerable to chains. You got to
think when the water is as cold as it is too,
you would think everything grows very very slow
there as well. Dr. Watson said anchor chains
probably had the second biggest impact to the
seafloor after trawling by commercial fishers.
Research into anchor impacts is growing in places
such as the Great Barrier Reef and other tropical
reef environments but Dr. Watson said that there
was a big gaping hole in Antarctica. Mr. Mulrennan
surveyed 36 sites around the Antarctic Peninsula
and anchoring damage was only found at the Yankee
harbor site. That's super strange. I would assume
that means that nothing was looked at that well
then, or nobody goes to any other part of Antarctica.
Dr. Watson wasn't able to access voluntary anchoring
data kept by the International Association of
Antarctica Tour Operators, so she used ship -tracking
data to estimate anchoring activity instead.
Eight vessels likely used their anchi... anchors
in Yankee harbour during the month Mr. Maul Renan
surveyed the area. Dr. Watson estimated a minimum
of 1 ,600 meters of seabed would be affected
if each vessel anchored in water 30 to 40 meters
deep. This figure does not consider the damage
from the train dragging side to side if the ships
moved. Quote, we don't know the footprint of
anchoring within the Antarctic Peninsula, so
it could be a pretty extensive issue for the
seafloor bed, Dr. Watson said. So I think that's
exactly right. They're just not looking at other
ones. Social scientist Elizabeth Lean of the
University of Tanzania, who is not involved with
the study, said there were sites more popular
than the Yankee Harbor that hadn't been surveyed.
Professor Lian, whose work focuses on Antarctica
tourism, noted Hooverville Island and Nico Harbor
received more visits than Yankee Harbor. It does
go on for a little bit. So I'm going to end it
there. It talks about tourism operations to examine
the research that they're doing and what can
be done. But we can put this link into the show
notes so that you can read more. It's very interesting
what they're talking about. I wanted to put it
in because it's another byproduct of the cruise
industry and tourism that I think a lot of people
wouldn't even think twice about where we did
another episode on cruise ships and all the damage
that they do to the environment. And this one
didn't even make it onto the list. No, something
you don't even really think about. And to be
fair, most cruise ships don't have to anchor
because they're going into ports. That's true.
This is a unique situation for the cruise industry
in this one. That's true. There are. ports though
while not exactly common there are still tender
ports that you're gonna see on I would say you
having a tender port at least one on a cruise
itinerary is normal at least one at least one
um sometimes you'll have a couple but something
to think about with the impact that the cruise
industry has on the environment as well when
you know they're having to tender because they're
too large of a cruise ship that can't fit into
port or something like that so add it to the
list wow i didn't know that part either so i'm
glad we learned that in an episode we did like
three years ago now it's true yeah good episode
well disturbing episode yeah and you guys got
48 hours you go Take a look for it. See if you
can find it. Give it a listen. I think it probably
holds up. I don't know. I haven't listened to
it in a long time. Anyhow, go find it. Bye. Bye.