Antarctic Ocean

The oceans surrounding Antarctica are among the few regions in the world where there is little underwater noise caused by human activities. An UBA study shows that the scientific use of airguns can emit noise in to this sanctuary at distances of 2000 kilometres which may reduce the naturally available communication range of blue and fin whales to as little as 1%.

Whales and seals depend on their sense of hearing for survival. Man-made underwater sounds can impair their hearing in both the short and long term, displace them from vital habitats, cause a change in important patterns of behaviour and thereby deteriorate the survival capacity of these marine mammals.

In the light of the growing interest in utilisation of Antarctica's resources, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR-Convention) was adopted on 20 May 1980. It entered into force on 7 April 1982.

When one considers the mile-thick ice shields which cover the Antarctic continent today, it is hard to imagine that Antarctica used to be fertile land and completely free of ice. Some 170 million years ago Antarctica was still part of the Gondwana supercontinent - until it broke up and Antarctica drifted south and slowly began to freeze over.

Maps of the Antarctic cannot even come close to reflecting the geographic diversity of the region. Beneath the massive ice layers lie mountains that are kilometres high with deep craggy ravines. As the seasons change, the sea ice forms ever new coastlines, and thus the exact surface area is also in a state of constant change.