From arm-sized worms to the Screaming Sixties, this is everything to know about the Southern Ocean

Dec 11, 2020

Two Adelie penguins rest on the shores of Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica

Penguins are one of Antarctica's most well-known species. Image: REUTERS/Pauline Askin

Ceridwen Fraser

Associate professor, University of Otago

Christina Hulbe

Professor, University of Otago School of Surveying

Craig Stevens

Associate Professor in Ocean Physics, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

Huw Griffiths

Marine Biogeographer, British Antarctic Survey

Our Impact

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Future of the Environment is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Future of the Environment

A map showing the world's oceans as a single body of water

The Spilhaus projection shows the connect nature of the world's ocean basins Image: Spilhaus ArcGIS project, CC BY-ND

A view of broken up ice in the The Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is our planet’s primary storage of heat and carbon. Image: Crag Stevens

a large research ship is pictured on the water

Strong westerly winds and the circumpolar current create massive waves in the Southern Ocean. Image: Craig Stevens

Ocean currents with different properties mix, rise and sink. Image: Craig Stevens

A researcher performs an experiment from the side of the boat

Argo probes measure salinity and temperature. Image: NIWA/Daniel Jones

a view of the south ocean from onboard a research ship

The RV Polarstern battles through a storm in the Southern Ocean. Image: Huw Griffiths

Algae growing on the underside of sea ice. Image: Andrew Thurber

Antarctic krill is a key species in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Image: British Antarctic Survey

underwater images of the Antarctic hydrothermal vent

An Antarctic hydrothermal vent on the East Scotia Ridge. The image was taken by a remotely operated vehicle during the ChEsSO expedition. Image: chEsSO/NERC

A selection of invertebrates commonly found by scientists diving at Rothera Station, Antarctica. Image: British Antarctic Survey

Marine invertebrates on the seafloor off the Antarctic coast. Image: Alfred Wegener Institute, OFOBS team

Chinstrap penguins on Deception Island. Image: Michelle LaRue

Many whale species depend on Antarctic ecosystems for summer feeding and migrate to warmer, lower latitudes for winter breeding Image: Huw Griffiths

a lone penguin with a whaling station in the background

An abandoned whaling station. Image: Ceridwen Fraser

a diagram showing the human effect on the Southern Ocean ecosystems

Humans are changing Southern Ocean ecosystems in many ways, both directly (purple-blue arrows) and indirectly (red arrows). Image: Chown et al (2015) The changing form of Antarctic biodiversity. Nature, 522: 431-438, CC BY-ND

A view on the antartic ocean with snowy mountain like peaks

Antarctic ocean waters are warming dramatically. Image: Ceridwen Fraser

Southern bull kelp does not grow in the Antarctic, but it floats well and recent research has shown that it can drift to Antarctica, travelling tens of thousands of kilometres. Image: Author provided

Adélie penguins rest and breed on land, but go to sea to forage for food. Image: Michelle LaRue

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.