News

If you’re wondering whether you’ll spot any wildlife during that dream dive expedition to Antarctica, a new book launched this week by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean, will put your concerns to rest.

The hefty tome, the first Antarctic atlas since 1969, details more than 9,000 species—everything from single-cell organisms to humpback whales. Taking four years to complete and containing over 60 chapters crammed with color pictures and some 800 maps, the volume features contributions from 147 scientists working in 91 different institutions across the world.

In addition to information on species distributions and their interactions with the physical environment, the book gives insights into species evolution and genetics as well as climate change impacts.

With the atlas' chief editor, Dr Claude De Broyer, describing the publication as “an accessible database of useful information” for conserving the marine life of the Antarctic, it is hoped that book will help inform conservation policy in the Southern Ocean.

Read more here. You can also download the first part of book here.