The Weddell Gyre (WG) is one of the main oceanographic features of the Southern Ocean south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current which plays an influential role in global ocean circulation as well as gas exchange with the atmosphere. We review the state‐of‐the art knowledge concerning the WG from an interdisciplinary perspective, uncovering critical aspects needed to understand this system's role in shaping the future evolution of oceanic heat and carbon uptake over the next decades. The main limitations in our knowledge are related to the conditions in this extreme and remote environment, where the polar night, very low air temperatures and presence of sea ice year‐round hamper field and remotely sensed measurements. We highlight the importance of winter and under‐ice conditions in the southern WG, the role that new technology will play to overcome present‐day sampling limitations, the importance of the WG connectivity to the low‐latitude oceans and atmosphere, and the expected intensification of the WG circulation as the westerly winds intensify. Greater international cooperation is needed to define key sampling locations that can be visited by any research vessel in the region. Existing transects sampled since the 1980s along the Prime Meridian and along an East‐West section at ~62°S should be maintained with regularity to provide answers to the relevant questions. This approach will provide long‐term data to determine trends and will improve representation of processes for regional, Antarctic‐wide and global modeling efforts – thereby enhancing predictions of the WG in global ocean circulation and climate.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2018RG000604

The Weddell Gyre, Southern Ocean: Present Knowledge and Future Challenges

Penguins face a wide range of threats. Most observed population changes have been negative and have happened over the last 60 years. Today, populations of 11 of the 18 penguin species are decreasing. Here we present a review that synthesizes details of threats faced by the world’s 18 species of penguins. We discuss alterations to their environment at both breeding sites on land and at sea where they forage. The major drivers of change appear to be climate, and food web alterations by marine fisheries. In addition, we also consider other critical and/or emerging threats, namely human disturbance near nesting sites, pollution due to oil, plastics and chemicals such as mercury and persistent organic compounds. Finally, we assess the importance of emerging pathogens and diseases on the health of penguins. We suggest that in the context of climate change, habitat degradation, introduced exotic species and resource competition with fisheries, successful conservation outcomes will require new and unprecedented levels of science and advocacy. Successful conservation stories of penguin species across their geographical range have occurred where there has been concerted effort across local, national and international boundaries to implement effective conservation planning.

/pdf/happy-feet-in-a-hostile-world-the-future-of-penguins-depends-29lfw66gdf.pdf

Happy feet in a hostile world? The future of penguins depends on proactive management of current and expected threats

/pdf/the-adelie-penguin-bellwether-of-climate-change-4rqg3ybffn.pdf

The Adélie Penguin: Bellwether of Climate Change

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.13132

A convolutional neural network for detecting sea turtles in drone imagery

The Southern Ocean is disproportionately important in its effect on the Earth system, impacting climatic, biogeochemical and ecological systems, which makes recent observed changes to this system cause for global concern. The enhanced understanding and improvements in predictive skill needed for understanding and projecting future states of the Southern Ocean require sustained observations. Over the last decade, the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) has established networks for enhancing regional coordination and research community groups to advance development of observing system capabilities. These networks support delivery of the SOOS 20-year vision, which is to develop a circumpolar system that ensures time series of key variables, and deliver the greatest impact from data to all key end-users. Although the Southern Ocean remains one of the least-observed ocean regions, enhanced international coordination and advances in autonomous platforms have resulted in progress towards addressing the need for sustained observations of this region. Since 2009, the Southern Ocean community has deployed over 5700 observational platforms south of 40°S. Large-scale, multi-year or sustained, multidisciplinary efforts have been supported and are now delivering observations of essential variables at space and time scales that enable assessment of changes being observed in Southern Ocean systems. The improved observational coverage, however, is predominantly for the open ocean, encompasses the summer, consists of primarily physical oceanographic variables and covers surface to 2000 m. Significant gaps remain in observations of the ice-impacted ocean, the sea ice, depths more than 2000 m, the air-sea-ice interface, biogeochemical and biological variables, and for seasons other than summer. Addressing these data gaps in a sustained way requires parallel advances in coordination networks, cyberinfrastructure and data management tools, observational platform and sensor technology, platform interrogation and data-transmission technologies, modeling frameworks, and internationally agreed sampling requirements of key variables. This paper presents a community statement on the major scientific and observational progress of the last decade, and importantly, an assessment of key priorities for the coming decade, towards achieving the SOOS vision and delivering essential data to all end users.

/pdf/delivering-sustained-coordinated-and-integrated-observations-3qopqtlt57.pdf

Delivering Sustained, Coordinated, and Integrated Observations of the Southern Ocean for Global Impact

The Spectacled Petrel Procellaria conspicillata is endemic of the Tristan da Cunha Archipelago, in the South Atlantic Ocean. However, it is scarcely detected in waters off Argentina beyond its traditional distribution along the southwest Atlantic during the breeding season. This study compiles distributional records of Spectacled Petrel for the target area (chiefly between 38°S to 46°S and 23°W to 57°W) obtained in situ, from non-systematic observations at sea, between 2015 and 2018 (totaling 4 trips); and by literature review. Nineteen new sightings of the species are presented. In 46 sightings a total of 65 individuals were recorded chiefly within waters of the Argentine continental shelf (< 200 m) (46%) and oceanic adjacent waters (54%). The bulk of the sightings (95%) were obtained during the species breeding season. In addition, we report the southernmost record of the species in oceanic waters for the southwest Atlantic (46°10′S; 57°06′W).

/pdf/distribution-extension-of-the-spectacled-petrel-procellaria-1m53vlstzt.pdf

Alex Borowicz

Papers

Distribution extension of the Spectacled Petrel (Procellaria conspicillata) off the Argentine continental shelf and oceanic adjacent waters