Antarctica: Robots go underground for research

Read the video transcript here arrow up arrow down

Diving robots as animal rights activists.

Over the next four months, these small, unmanned, battery-powered underwater vehicles will independently explore the Southern Ocean.

You can measure the temperature, salt and chlorophyll content of the ice-cold water.

They appear at regular intervals and transfer the collected data to a British research group.

Povl Abrahamsen, British Antarctic Survey:

“My name is Povl Abrahamsen.

I'm an oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey.

Right now I'm on the royal research vessel James Cook, about 90 nautical miles south of South Georgia.

And behind me is the A68p iceberg. "

The iceberg with the designation A68 had broken off from the Antarctic ice shelf and is now drifting towards South Georgia.

With the help of the yellow diving robots, the research group wants to find out whether the gigantic ice masses could endanger the wild animal population on the islands.

South Georgia is 1400 kilometers off the Argentine coast.

Povl Abrahamsen, British Antarctic Survey:

“The iceberg A68 has broken into many pieces, and A68p is the youngest to have a name.

And even though it's not as big as it used to be, it's still about 100 square kilometers.

We're here to study the iceberg's impact on the ocean ecosystem around South Georgia. "

The waters around South Georgia are considered to be one of the most biodiverse places on earth.

If the icebergs run aground there, it could pose a threat to penguins and seals during the breeding season.

The melting fresh water could influence the development of marine plankton - and thus entire food chains in the sensitive marine ecosystem.