News, Data and Publications

The MOO was decommissioned and removed in November 2019, at the end of the planned project timeline. We had a very successful two years in the frigid Antarctica seawater, collecting unique and important data. There were no hardware failures or insurmountable problems over the two-year deployment, despite the fact that the observatory was required to operate autonomously with no possibility of servicing the underwater equipment for 10 months at a time. We are continuing to work to publish and disseminate our exciting findings and datasets.

Data and Publications

Wong, W.S.Y, Hauer, L., Cziko, P.A., and K. Meister. 2022. Cryofouling avoidance in the Antarctic Scallop Adamussium colbecki. Communications Biology, (2022) 5:83. doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03023-6 Link

Cziko, P.A., Munger, L.M., Santos N.R., and J.M. Terhune. 2020. Weddell seals produce ultrasonic vocalizations. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 148(6). doi:10.1121/10.0002867 Link pdf

Cziko, P.A., 2020. Long-term broadband underwater acoustic recordings from McMurdo
Sound, Antarctica (2017-2019). U.S. Antarctic Program Data Center, https://doi.org/10.15784/601416

Cziko, P.A., 2020. Long-term underwater images from around a single mooring site in
McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (2017-2019). U.S. Antarctic Program Data Center,
https://doi.org/10.15784/601417

Cziko, P.A., 2020. High-resolution nearshore benthic seawater temperature from
around McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (2017-2019). U.S. Antarctic Program Data Center,
https://doi.org/10.15784/601420

Twitter

We post updates, photos and videos on our Twitter feed @MOOAntarctica. Below is a summary of our most recent posts.

Featured
Across Acoustics - Dr. Terhune Discusses Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Weddell Seals
Across Acoustics - Dr. Terhune Discusses Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Weddell Seals

In this twenty minute interview on the Acoustical Society of America’s Across Acoustics podcast MOO team collaborator Jack Terhune discusses the acoustical behaviors of Antarctica’s Weddell seals.

Max Planck Institute - Ice-free in icy worlds: Special shell protects Antarctic scallop from ice build-up.
Max Planck Institute - Ice-free in icy worlds: Special shell protects Antarctic scallop from ice build-up.

Airplane wings that don't ice up or solar cells that generate electricity even in winter - ice-free surfaces are important for many applications. A team of scientists has now studied an Antarctic scallop species that opposes the icing process with the help of its shell surface…

The Conversation - Scientists at work: New recordings of ultrasonic seal calls hit at sonar-like abilities
The Conversation - Scientists at work: New recordings of ultrasonic seal calls hit at sonar-like abilities

I’m sitting on the edge of a hole drilled through 15 feet of Antarctic sea ice, about to descend into the frigid ocean of the southernmost dive site in the world. I wear nearly 100 pounds of gear…

Scientific American - Antarctic Seals Vocalize in Ultrasonic–but Not for the Usual Reason
Scientific American - Antarctic Seals Vocalize in Ultrasonic–but Not for the Usual Reason

Nearly one fifth of the underwater vocalizations produced by Antarctica’s Weddell seals occur at pitches above the limits of human hearing, according to a recent study…

Antarctic Sun - Weddell Seals Sing Songs Humans Can't Hear
Antarctic Sun - Weddell Seals Sing Songs Humans Can't Hear

A new research paper published in the December edition of The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America shows that Weddell seals vocalize underwater at frequencies too high for humans to hear…

Inaudible Melodies - Weddell seals produce ultrasonic vocalizations!
Inaudible Melodies - Weddell seals produce ultrasonic vocalizations!

We discovered that Weddell seals regularly vocalize at ultrasonic frequencies. That is, they produce “high pitch” chirps, whistles and trills at frequencies above the range of human hearing….

NOVA/PBS Terra - Why Don’t Fish Freeze in Antarctica?
NOVA/PBS Terra - Why Don’t Fish Freeze in Antarctica?

The water is so cold that fish inhabiting it should freeze like an icicle, a phenomenon that evolutionary biologist Paul Cziko uses supercooled water, snow, and fish guts to demonstrate…

KGW-8, Portland - U of O gives a glimpse under Antarctica
KGW-8, Portland - U of O gives a glimpse under Antarctica

EUGENE, OR — Scientists at the University of Oregon are giving the public a rare glimpse at what's happening below the ice in the Antarctic some 9,000 miles away…

Antarctic Sun – Why Antarctic fish don't freeze
Antarctic Sun – Why Antarctic fish don't freeze

An innovative project to understand how fish survive in the frigid Antarctic waters is opening up new avenues for researchers monitoring what goes on under the sea ice in McMurdo Sound…

U of O News – A live look under the ice
U of O News – A live look under the ice

With a National Science Foundation grant, University of Oregon biologist Paul Cziko installs a video camera, microphone and ocean sensors 70 feet under the Antarctic sea ice…