- Scientists have found life under 3,000 feet of ice in Antarctica.
- They found two species of unknown animals, where they thought nothing could live.
- Their next step is to find a way to be close enough to identify the creatures.
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Scientists found life in Antarctica below 3,000 meters of ice, challenging their assumption that nothing could live in such conditions.
The previous theory was that life could not exist in such an end: no food, icy temperatures and total darkness.
The creatures are attached to a boulder in the icy sea beneath the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf. Experts from the British Antarctic Survey drilled 2,860 feet of ice and then another 1,549 feet of water to make the discovery.
“The area under this ice shelf is probably one of the least known habitats on earth”, said dr. Huw Griffith, one of the scientists who made the discovery, said in a Twitter video.
“We did not think that this kind of animal, like sponges, would be found there.”
—British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) 15 February 2021
The Filchner-Ronne Ice Rack is a massive floating ice shelf that stretches from the Antarctic mainland.
It covers more than 579,000 square kilometers, but only the surface of a tennis court has been investigated.
Enormous icebergs occasionally break off these ice shelves and drift away. In December 2020, one of these icebergs threatened to collapse into a breeding ground for seals and penguins.
An annotated satellite image of the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf is the second largest ice shelf in Antarctica.
Google Maps / Insider
The giant ice sheets are the second largest ice sheet in Antarctica
British Antarctic Survey / Twitter
The scientists did not seek life.
They drilled through the ice sheet to retrieve samples from the seabed. Instead, their camera hit a boulder. When they reviewed the footage from the camera, it revealed this discovery.
—British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) 15 February 2021
“We would never have thought in a million years of looking for this kind of life because we did not think it would be there,” Griffiths told The Guardian.
The video reveals two species of unknown animals, which are shown here in a video from the British Antarctic Survey. The red animal appears to have long stems, while another species of animal, highlighted in white, resembles a round spongy animal.
A remark about the footage that animals captured under the ice in Antarctica.
British Antarctic Survey / Twitter
Other studies have looked at life under ice sheets. Some mobile animals, such as fish, worms, jellyfish or krill, can be found in that habitat.
But it was thought that the deeper and farthest distance from a light source that stretched the habitat, the less likely life would be found.
Read more: Disney closes the animation studio behind the ‘Ice Age’ movies. Some staff members say they are shocked by the lack of communication and feel betrayed that the final film will not be released.
This is the first time that animals bound to a surface have been found. According to the scientist, these animals are about 160 kilometers from the open sea.
“Our discovery raises so many more questions than it answers, such as how they got there. What are they eating? How long have they been there?” Griffith said in a press release.
The scientists said their next step is to understand if they are new species.
“To answer our questions, we need to find a way to get up close to these animals and their environment … 260 km [160 miles] away from the ships where our labs are, “Griffith said.
Life in research stations in Antarctica is not an easy achievement, as Monica Humpfries of Insider reports
They are so remote that the first case of COVID-19 on the mainland was only reported in December 2020.