Liam Taylor - Fighting Over 'The Last Ocean' In Antarctica

The article I read is the about the continuous fight for control of Antarctica by world powers, and in this article, specifically the fight over the Ross Sea, which has been dubbed 'The Last Ocean.'

Essentially, in the late 1950's, the fight for power over the cold, uninhabited territory began to grow. Different countries vying for a part of Antarctica were able to develop science programs because of the many technological advances following World War II. Since this land was extremely unstudied, people saw it as an opportunity to learn about Antarctica. When scientists got there, they made scientific breakthroughs and found evidence of the theory of Pangaea, as well as finding new discoveries about the magnetic fields in Antarctica. In 1959, a treaty was signed that split Antarctica into 12 areas, with slivers given to the 12 counties who originally tried to gain control of the territory.

Everything had been fine until just recently when the fight for a certain portion of Antarctica has come about. The Ross Sea is an area that has experienced minimal scientific activity as well as any human activity in general. However, this sea, also known as 'The Last Ocean', is home to lots of unique animals, like the Antarctic minke whale and the Adelie penguins. Not only is the ecosystem so special, there is a large amount of rich natural resources there. This area of ocean is closest to the sliver of Antarctica that belongs to New Zealand, but since the sea is technically a part of the ocean and not Antarctica, the Ross Sea officially belongs to nobody.

There are many reasons why people are fighting over this territory. To start off, it's rich in natural resources, which can be immensely beneficial to a country's economy. However, the extraction of these resources can he harmful to the animals living the area. Some could be accidentally killed which messes with the ecosystem. They could even be forced to relocate, which is dangerous for each of the species considering that this could endanger these precious animals. A group known as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) wants to use it for marine life research. I believe this would be very useful, as this area has barely been explored or even touched by humans. With all the scientific discoveries that resulted from the original exploration of Antarctica, who knows what could come from the exploration of the Ross Sea. The only issue is that Russia and China, two of the world's five superpowers, have been against the idea of the CCAMLR using this area.

This ongoing battle of countries fighting over who gets what is similar to the fights between European countries over who got what when they all had explorers in the New World. In both of these situations, countries had been fighting over an area of uninhabited land that they felt they could truly use. Although this contest for the Ross Sea is taking place over 500 years after the exploration of the New World, it just shows us how everyone still desperately wants to get their hands on a new unexplored piece of land.
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http://motherboard.vice.com/read/why-everyone-wants-a-piece-of-antarcticas-last-ocean-ross-sea