In search of more secrets in the South Atlantic, a new expedition in the Argentine Sea is being broadcast live. Its protagonists are a scientific team composed of Argentines and foreignerson board the ship Falkor (too)belonging to the American institute Schmidt Ocean.
This turns out to be the same boat that was behind the crossing of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) in a underwater canyon Mar del Plata. There images were collected that went viral; among them, incredible coral reefs and a particular starfish.
On that occasion, in July of this year, they discovered 40 new species of marine life at 3900 meters deep.
This time, the floating laboratory -what The journey began on September 30 and will end on October 29 – it will circulate for about a month off the coast of the provinces of Chubut y Black River. An opportunity that was achieved after the Argentine project was one of those selected in November 2023 by the same institute.
The differences with the previous expedition, known for the «butt star»
But this mission – which until now photographed anemones, corals and ophiuras more than 300 meters deep – differs from the previous one by various reasons.
State-of-the-art resources accompany the scientific team. Photo: Schmidt Ocean InstituteTo begin with, it is headed by Naval Hydrography Service (SHN), which depends on the Ministry of Defense, and the Center for Marine and Atmospheric Research (CIMA-UBA-CONICET), in collaboration with other national organizations and international.
Besides, to logistical support of the Schmidt Ocean Institutethey add the co-financing of the Williams Foundation and the National Center for Space Studies (CNES).
An unprecedented expedition off the Patagonian coast
The campaign is called “Echoes of two cannons” by the two underwater canyons that will be explored in the Patagonia: Bahía Blanca, located 500 kilometers from the city of Viedma, Black Riverand the Almirante Brown canyon, in front of the city of Rawson, in Chubutlocated at a similar distance.
The mission, which will be broadcast from the official channels of the American non-profit organization, will carry out seabed mappingbiological sampling, current measurement, and, of course, underwater image recording. These will reveal ocean depths that will go from between 200 to 600 meters.
Its direction is in charge of the oceanographer Silvia Romeroresearcher at the SHN, and professor at the UBA and the National Defense University.
Leading a team of more than 30 researchers, technicians and studentsthe chief scientist is accompanied by the three main co-researchers, the doctors Graziella Bozzano, Ornella Silvestriy Laura Ruiz Etcheverry.
The campaign plans to reach depths of 600 meters in the Patagonian Sea. Photo: YT Capture/Schmidt OceanHe unprecedented character This expedition is due to the fact that it is the first time that a team of Argentine scientists embarks to study this ecosystemone of the most productive in the South Atlantic.
The marine expedition Its objective is ocean circulation and the demonstration of the positive effects of these underwater valleys in the abundance of fishing resources. How would they do it? Facilitating the entry of cold and rich waters in nutrients, coming from the Malvinas Current, towards the continental shelf.
State-of-the-art equipment and a robot that returns to the marine scene
On the waters of the Patagoniathe maritime campaign is equipped with cutting edge technology. It carries with it two state-of-the-art underwater vehicles, one of which has already been installed on the ship: the ROV SuBastianwhich was used in the previous and famous campaign of CONICETthe Talud Continental IV.
This robot – which collects high-definition images and takes sediment and water samples without disturbing ecosystems – will be submerged five timesand its depth will be limited to about a thousand meters.
The other autonomous vehicle is the AUV Glider SEAEXPLORER X2, developed together with the Institut Méditerranéen d’Océanologie of France.
Sampling instruments such as Niskin bottlesand the deployment of 50 drifting buoys equipped with GPS sensorsare some of the resources they have to analyze the physical, chemical and biological properties of the sea.
