Marine life is thriving on the Antarctic seafloor, even after being trapped under the ice for 50 years
02/07/2022 / By Virgilio Marin
Researchers have discovered that the Antarctic seabed is teeming a rich community of sea creatures. The marine organisms – trapped under the ice for five decades – came to light after an iceberg over two times bigger than New York City broke off of the Brunt Ice Shelf in northern Antarctica last month.
The iceberg, called A-74, drifted into the Weddell Sea and left a narrow opening in the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The researchers grabbed the rare opportunity to enter the opening via the German research vessel Polarstern. After taking pictures of the seafloor, they found a bustling community of mollusks, filter feeders, sea stars and sea cucumbers, as well as five species of fish and two squid species, living 18 miles below the surface.
“The first images from the seafloor reveal an amazing level of biodiversity in a region that was covered by thick ice for decades,” read a statement from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, which led the mission.
https://www.environ.news/2022-02-07-marine-life-thrives-on-antarctic-seafloor.html
