The wild deep: Discovering new species in Chilean Patagonia -- before they go extinct
On the Pacific fringes
of Chile lies a biological haven. Along the Patagonian coast, surrounded by
majestic snow-capped mountains, corals live among some of the deepest fjords in
the world. New species are being discovered here; there are still areas waiting
to be documented. But even as the reefs' secrets reveal themselves, there is
trouble in paradise.
Chilean-German biologist Vreni Haussermann arrived in Chilean Patagonia in the late 1990s to explore what she calls "one of the last wildernesses on Earth." Haussermann was a student at the University of Munich when an exchange program gave her the chance to study for a year in the city of Concepcion, central Chile. For her thesis, she set out on a six-month drive along the country's long coastline with research partner Gunter Forsterra, who is now her husband.
They dived frequently
along the way, and Haussermann was intrigued by the possibilities of Patagonia.
"It was the most beautiful, least known region," she recalls.
Read: Indigenous trackers are teaching scientists about
wildlife
The isolated fjords were created by the Pacific inundating deep valleys once carved by glaciers, and the region's coastline is some 80,000 kilometers long -- twice the circumference of the Earth. It's the job of a lifetime and a lifetime's work. Fortunately, she and Forsterra, have had a permanent base since 2003 at Huinay Scientific Field Station in Comau Fjord from which to launch their studies....
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/15/world/vreni-haussermann-c2e-spc-scn-int/index.html
