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Southern Ocean, The (2/8)


This is also part of this series: Oceans (8)

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Subjects: Adaptations, Animal Behaviour, Animals, Biology, Climate Change, Coral Reefs, Earth Science, Endangered Species, Fish, Fisheries, History, Invading Species, Ocean, Science

Grade Level: JrH-Adult
Producer: BBC
Closed Captioned: No		 Running Time: 50 mins
Country of Origin: Great Britain
Study Guide: No
Copyright Date: 2008
Available in French: No

Explorer Paul Rose and with him environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto travel to the notoriously hostile Southern Ocean. Since explorers first began venturing South, it has been clear that the Southern Ocean is a unique, and harsh, environment. Storm-force westerly winds, huge seas, vast expanses of sea-ice, and mountainous icebergs are characteristics of this vast area.

Often described as the lung of the planet, the Southern Ocean plays a vital role in regulating levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. But parts of it are warming twice as fast as the rest of the world’s oceans. The aim is to discover what impact this is having.

The team bases itself in Tasmania, a remote island separated from mainland Australia by one of the roughest bodies of water in the world. Here they explore the iconic kelp forests off the eastern coast to discover how this unique ecosystem is being affected, not only by the rise in sea temperatures, but also by the influx of a new predator. They also go in search of the weedy sea dragon, one of the planet’s most curious and enigmatic creatures found only in the Southern Ocean. And they discover that its habitat is under threat.

The team sees one of the thousand shipwrecks in the waters, and risk high winds and currents to explore the tannin-stained waters of the Sunken Valley. They search for mysterious deep-ocean creatures that normally live at inaccessible depths, hundreds of metres below the surface. Here they witness behaviour never filmed before.

Finally, they risk diving in remote sea caves to hunt for evidence of ancient sea creatures that can reveal how our oceans have been shaped and formed over millions of years.

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