The virtual photography exhibition “Icy Sea” is an initiative of the MicrOcean Lab of the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (IOUSP), with the objective of disseminating the polar sciences, the stunning landscapes and the biodiversity of Antarctica. This is also a contribution to the scientific promotion in the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade, 2021-2030), in which we must become aware of the role of each one for the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of marine resources for a clean and healthy ocean today and in the future.

 

Antarctica is considered the continent of superlatives, as it is the coldest, with the highest average altitude, the driest and windiest, in addition to being covered by a layer of ice that contains the largest reserve (70%) of freshwater in the planet. This immense continent, with about 14 million km² (1.6 times the size of Brazil), is surrounded by the Southern Ocean known for the formation of water masses that circulate throughout the planet, totaling more than 45 million km² or the equivalent to 10% of the Earth's surface. Antarctic ecosystems are peculiar and have rich biodiversity, composed of whales, seals and sea lions, penguins and other birds, fishes, marine invertebrates, zooplankton species (especially krill), algae, lichens and mosses, phytoplankton and microorganisms. Doing science in this immense natural outdoor laboratory is a real privilege.

 

The photographic records of this exhibition were made in scientific expeditions held in February 2013 (OPERANTAR XXXI), February 2014 (OPERANTAR XXXII), February 2015 (OPERANTAR XXXIII), February 2016 (OPERANTAR XXXIV) and January/ February 2019 (OPERANTAR XXXVII) aboard the polar vessel Almirante Maximiano (H41). The records cover different locations in the Southern Ocean, including the Gerlache Strait, the Bransfield Strait, the Admiralty Bay, Half Moon Island, Deception Island, Hope Bay, the Antarctic Sound, in addition to the Chilean Channels (during the crossing to Antarctica). The 102 photographs are organized in chronological order, from the oldest to the most recent expedition, and contain a brief description, the location, the year and the source.

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Acknowledgments

 

We are very grateful to the authors of the photos, who allowed their publication in this exhibition: Camila Negrão Signori (Professor at the University of São Paulo), Eduardo Resende Secchi (Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande), Elisa Seyboth (Researcher at FURG and University of Cape Town), Luis Felipe Araujo (Captain of the Brazilian Navy), Stefan Sievert (Associate Scientist w/tenure at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, United States). We also thank Renato Gamba Romano (University of São Paulo) for his kindness in making the beautiful map.

 

We thank the Scientific Projects INTERBIOTA - “Biological Interactions in marine ecosystems around the Antarctic Peninsula under different impacts of climate change” (MCTI/ CNPq /FNDCT, Process 407889/2013-2) and EcoPelagos - “Responses of the Pelagic Ecosystem to climate change in the Southern Ocean” (CNPq/ MCTIC /CAPES /FNDCT, Process 442637/2018-7), as well as the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) that made these records and research possible in Antarctica. To learn more about PROANTAR, visit: https://www.marinha.mil.br/secirm/proantar

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Curatorship

 

Lilian Rocha Carneiro, future oceanographer and PUB fellow at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Camila Negrão Signori, oceanographer and Professor at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (Brazil)