A group of scientists accidentally discovered species living in -2°C temperatures under 890 meters of ice in Antarctica.
According to the details, the researchers were conducting a survey in Antarctica when they accidentally discovered the species on the southeastern Weddell Sea. The new finding sheds light on the existence of life beneath the ice shelves of the continent.
Accidental discovery of extreme life! Far underneath the ice shelves of the #Antarctic, there’s more life than expected: https://t.co/atdkiv1GrA
BAS marine biologist Dr Huw Griffiths @griffiths_huw explains… pic.twitter.com/Z6OUw4oQNs
— British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) February 15, 2021
The find was made by biogeographer Huw Griffiths of the British Antarctic Survey, while he was working with his team of explorers at the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf.
Taking to social networking website, Twitter, Griffiths shared details about his extraordinary find.
“We recently found life living far beneath a giant floating ice shelf. What we found was surprising because we have never expected this kind of animals, animals that filter feed their food from the water column, to be found this far from a source of food or daylight,” Griffiths said in the video.
Discovery of life after drilling through 900m of Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in #Antarctica.
Published today @FrontMarineSci – https://t.co/atdkiv1GrA @griffiths_huw @shelfyice @hotwateronice @wavygk @GeoscienceAus @morroghmax @post_alix @nuigalway @UCR_EP_Sci @NERCscience pic.twitter.com/L8P9tt2DbZ
— British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) February 15, 2021
“Everything we know about these environments under the ice comes from a handful of holes drilled by people through the ice and then cameras lowered down,” he added.
Griffiths said the study has revealed that humans might not know how much area is actually under the ice shelves in the continent of Antarctica.
Griffiths and his team found one filter feeder sponge on a stalk, 15 sponges without stalks, and 22 unidentified stalked organisms that could be sponges or other species such as barnacles, cnidaria, or polychaetes.
The study has now been published in Frontiers in Marine Science. It shares detailed information about the creatures and how they were found under 890 meters of ice, Times Now News reported.
Another video shared on Twitter by British Antarctic Survey shows the moment the camera captured the species under the ice shelf.
“Our discovery raises so many more questions than it answers, such as how did they get there?” said Griffiths.
