Antarctic researchers find out a ‘hidden world’ beneath the ice.

In a vast cathedral-like cavern 500m beneath the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, researchers from New Zealand discovered an amazing hidden world of aquatic life.

A hidden world of aquatic life 500m beneath the ice in Antarctica has been discovered, complete with shrimp-like creatures in a vast cathedral-like cavern.

New Zealand scientists discovered the exciting new ecosystem beneath the Ross Ice Shelf while investigating the impact of global warming in a suspected estuary.

Researchers from Wellington, Auckland, and Otago universities, as well as the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Sciences (Niwa) and the Geological and Nuclear Sciences, drilled through the ice shelf and into the river below.

They sent down a camera after that.

“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 Craig Stevens of Niwa. We’d done experiments in other parts of the ice shelf and thought we had things under control, but this time big surprises awaited us.

While studying climate change was an important aspect of the study, there was also an element of discovery for the team.

“We were jumping up and down because having all those animals swimming around our equipment means there’s clearly a significant ecosystem there,” he continued.

Huw Horgan of Te Herenga Waka, the project’s lead scientist, was the first to discover the estuary.