The worsening climate change brings about the warming ocean, and global warming is slowly erasing the ice from below the continental shelf areas in Antarctica, which results in faster flow and threatens the collapse of massive icebergs. Scientists are racing to gain more data on what is happening below by asking the help of water pups: the seals.
According to The Independent, researchers in Antarctica have begun using seals with sensors attached to their heads to collect data from the ice shelves in Antarctica in a bid to curb obstacles of using boats in navigating these complex environments. Doing so will help inform how melting ice shelves will contribute to rising sea levels.
Antarctica's Most Dangerous Iceberg is Rapidly Declining
Antarctica's biggest iceberg is retreating rapidly due to the warming ocean that slowly melts the ice below and results in a faster flow of warm water, creating more fractures and threatening its collapse, Brinkwire reported. It is said to be the size of Florida or the whole United Kingdom, and every year it contributes 4% to the rising sea levels.
The floating ice shelf is an extension of the iceberg held in place by an underwater mountain, which holds one-third of its eastern part and is flowing slower than the rest of its parts. It also acts as a brace to prevent upstream from the ice from flowing too fast.
However, global sea levels may rise several feet if the Antarctic's most dangerous iceberg collapses. This could cause severe flooding and threaten millions of lives in the coastal areas.
Senior research scientist Ted Scambos from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) said that the outflow speed in the iceberg has doubled in the last three decades and probably holds more water enough to raise water levels by more than two feet.
Scientists found that the iceberg is melting from below, slowly losing its grip on the underwater mountain. Collected data from years of the study showed that major changes in the ice had been discovered where the ice is floating off the bedrock.
Seals Attached With Cameras for Oceanographic Observation in Antarctica
Researchers from Japan's National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) led a study that investigated the continental shelves of Antarctica, but they are using a different observational method than commonly used.
According to Earth.com, they attached a CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers using glue to the heads of eight Weddell seals between March and September 2017. This method was employed to solve the difficulty of conducting oceanographic observations in continental shelf areas that are otherwise hard to reach via boats.
One of their goals aside from observing water flow from melting ice is to see the flourishing biology of the area, especially as it is one of the most biologically productive sites in the world's oceans due to the large amounts it holds coming from the interaction between the sea ice, ocean, and ice shelves.
They published the full findings of their study, titled "Shoreward Intrusion of Oceanic Surface Waters Alters Physical and Biological Ocean Structures on the Antarctic Continental Shelf During Winter: Observations From Instrumented Seals," in the journal Limnology and Oceanography.
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