The Latest Breaking News from the Southern Ocean

Europe is warmed by heat from ocean currents, which move water from the warm tropics to the colder North Atlantic. Once the warm, salty water from the tropics reach the polar region, they cool enough to sink to the depths and flow back towards the Southern Ocean.

Analysis of global climate patterns from past 1.5 million years reveal links between ocean circulation and climate changes.

Emperor penguin Gus found in Australia, nursed back to health, and released into the Southern Ocean after a remarkable journey. Conservation efforts are cr...

The Albanese government has today declared stronger protections for the waters around Heard Island and McDonald Islands, one of Australia’s wildest, most remote areas. The marine park surrounding the islands will be extended by 310,000 square kilometres, quadrupling its size.

Whales feed for roughly 100 days out of each year; depending on the species, an adult whale may consume 1 to 6 tons of krill in a day.

Antarctic krill – shrimp-like crustaceans that inhabit the icy waters surrounding Antarctica – may be small (around 5cm) but they have an enormous total biomass, similar to that of the global human population. However, while humans pump ever more carbon into the atmosphere, krill are working in reverse. They are…

The Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica is the world’s largest feeding ground for baleen whales – species like humpbacks that filter tiny organisms from seawater for food. In the 20th century, whalers killed roughly 2 million large whales in the Southern Ocean. Some populations, like the Antarctic blue whale, were reduced…

The Southern Ocean is wild and dynamic. It experiences Earth’s strongest winds and largest waves. It is home to city-sized icebergs and the biggest ocean current on the globe, as well as tiny turbulent flows that fit inside a teacup.

This 2023 astronaut photo shows a pair of perfectly aligned "wave clouds" rippling above the Crozet Islands in the Southern Ocean. The unusual patterns are the result of changes in temperature caused by gravity waves.