Marine life discovered hundreds of meters below Antarctic ice shelf

In an unexpected discovery, scientists found swarms of little shrimp-like creatures when they dig the vast Antarctic ice shelf to analyze the effect of climate change beneath the vast ice sheets.

The discovery was made by a team of scientists from New Zealand who found the ecosystem 500 metres below the ice in a suspected estuary, hundreds of kilometres from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.

During the drilling through the ice and into the river for analyzing the effect of climate change, the camera of the team was swarmed by amphipods, little creatures from the same lineage as lobsters, crabs and mites.

“For a while, we thought something was wrong with the camera, but when the focus improved, we noticed a swarm of arthropods around 5mm in size,” said Niwa’s Craig Stevens.

Researchers have been aware of a network of hidden freshwater lakes and rivers below the Antarctic ice sheets for some time but they have yet to be directly surveyed, Horgan said.

“Getting to observe and sample this river was like being the first to enter a hidden world.”

Instruments had been left in the river to observe its behaviour, he said, while lab researchers would investigate what makes the water unique.