Report of the Belgica 121 expedition to the West Antarctic Peninsula
The Belgica121 expedition (B121) ventured to explore the marine biodiversity of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) to test the concept of using a nimble sampling platform, the R/V Australis, a steel hulled, fully rigged motor sailor. Named as a tribute to the first international scientific expeditio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | French |
| Published: |
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/287374 https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/287374/3/B121_Cruise_report.pdf |
| Summary: | The Belgica121 expedition (B121) ventured to explore the marine biodiversity of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) to test the concept of using a nimble sampling platform, the R/V Australis, a steel hulled, fully rigged motor sailor. Named as a tribute to the first international scientific expedition in Antarctica lead by Adrien de Gerlache in 1897-99 (onboard the Belgica), B121 took place between February and March 2019, sampling 15 stations in 22 working days in an area extending from the Berthelot (65°19.751 S, 64°08.263 W) to the Melchior Islands (64°19.246 S, 62°55.375W). Deploying 20 different types of gear (both traditional and modern), the B121 team gathered over 1700 samples that will be brought back to Belgium for further identification (by taxonomic experts) and analyses (isotopes, population genetics or genomics.). The team focused on biodiversity assessments, from the intertidal to subtidal zone (20 m) in coastal areas with contrasting characteristics regarding their exposure to glaciers, oceanographic characteristics and intensity of touristic activities. Other projects included population genetics studies, trophic ecology, environmental DNA, microplastics surveys and more (see full report below for details).The use of R/V Australis for coastal studies deemed to be extremely efficient, in terms of environmental impact (ca. 150x less CO2 emissions than a Polar class icebreaker) and reactivity, allowing the team to adapt the sampling efforts in function of the weather or anchoring conditions. Fully devoted to the expedition, the ship allowed the B121 team to sample in shallow areas, not accessible to icebreaker and too far away from research stations, and which have been under sampled.Regarding the biodiversity census, the B121 expedition worked on various realms/taxonomic levels including the intertidal, soft sediments, macro- and megabenthos, fish, birds and marine mammals. Seven stations were investigated for the intertidal (MI, NH, UI, SK, HI, GR and FH) with a total of 121 measurements in ... |
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