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A huge #iceberg broke off #Antarctica. What scientists found under it startled them.

Crustaceans, snails, worms & fish are among the dozens of creatures that deep-sea explorers discovered under a massive Antarctic #IceShelf.

#science #discovery #research #climate #ClimateChange
washingtonpost.com/climate-env…

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Researchers were working off the coast of #Antarctica when it happened: A gigantic #iceberg about 19 miles long cracked off the #IceShelf on Jan 13, revealing a swath of #ocean that had not seen daylight in decades.

The team aboard a #research vessel called the Falkor (too) decided to search the seafloor under the freshly exposed ocean. No human had ever explored the deep sea there before.

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#science #climate #ClimateChange #research #ocean #antarctica #iceberg #Discovery #iceshelf
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…The scientists didn’t think much life could thrive tucked under such a thick blanket of ice.

But what the team members found under the #iceberg surprised them: giant sea spiders, octopuses, ice fish, corals & sponges, including a vase-shaped one that might be hundreds of years old. In total, the researchers believe they will be able to identify dozens of #NewSpecies from the expedition.

#ocean #science #discovery #research #Antarctica #climate #ClimateChange

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The discovery, announced Thursday, not only shows how life finds a way into nearly every corner of the world — including entombed under floating glaciers — but also provides a crucial baseline for understanding how deep-sea life may change on a warming planet.

#ocean #science #discovery #research #Antarctica #climate #ClimateChange

The tentacles of a solitary hydroid drift in currents 360 meters deep at an area of the seabed that was very recently covered by the George VI Ice Shelf, a floating glacier in Antarctica. Solitary hydroids are related to corals, jellyfish, and anemones, but do not form colonies. (ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute)
A large sponge, a cluster of anemones, and other life is seen nearly 230 meters deep. Sponges can grow very slowly, sometimes less than two centimeters a year. Therefore, the size of this specimen suggests this community has been active for decades, perhaps even hundreds of years. (ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute)
A stalk of deep-sea coral is documented 1200 meters deep. (ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute)
A helmet jellyfish drifts with tentacles splayed in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica, an area in where the shelf break and slope are cut by several underwater gullies. (ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute)
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Nonilex
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During the roughly month-long expedition, the researchers piloted a remotely operated vehicle to capture photos & video & collect specimens from some of the deepest reaches off #Antarctica. The team also explored areas of the remote BellingshausenSea farther from the ice sheet. Among the species potentially new to #science are crustaceans, sea snails, worms & fish.
It will take months of lab analysis to confirm the discovery of any #NewSpecies.
#ocean #discovery #research #climate #ClimateChange
A giant phantom jelly is documented in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica, at an area where the shelf break and slope are cut by several underwater gullies. This jellyfish can grow to a massive size: the bell to be more than one meter (3.3 feet) across with four ribbon-like oral arms that can grow more than 10 meters (33 feet) in length. (ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute)
Brittle stars climb on a sponge, documented at a depth of 215 meters. This area, at the southeastern end of the Ronne Entrance off the Bellingshausen Sea, lost its ice shelf cover a few years ago. (ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute)
An octopus rests on the seafloor 1150 meters deep, in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica, at an area where the shelf break and slope are cut by several underwater gullies. (ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute)
#science #climate #ClimateChange #research #ocean #antarctica #Discovery #NewSpecies
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