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Deep-sea life below Antarctica, in the deepest dive ever beneath Antarctic ice.
Tendrils of ice-covered brine, or brinicles, leak from sea ice near East Antarctica’s Dumont d’Urville Station. Ephemeral and seldom seen, they form when trapped, supercooled brine escapes from the ice and freezes less salty seawater.
More than 30 metres below the ice, a feather star waves its frond-like arms, groping for food particles. It’s an animal, not a plant—a cousin of sea stars—and it can swim. Photographer Laurent Ballesta dived as deep as 75 metres to get these shots. Promachocrinus Kerguelensis
Tethered to the seafloor more than 65 metres down, syphoning in water to collect food, orange sea squirts, “look very simple, like sponges,” says marine biologist Pierre Chevaldonné. “Yet they’re quite evolved”—they’re invertebrates, but the larvae have spinal cords. Synoicum Adareanum
A curious young Weddell seal, weeks old, comes in for a close-up. It may have been the pup's first swim, says marine biologist Pierre Chevaldonné, who has worked at Dumont d’Urville. Weddell seals are the most southerly breeding mammal in the world.
A seal swims beneath sea ice near East Antarctica’s Dumont d’Urville Station.
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The Following 14 Users Say Thank You to Justdroppedin For This Useful Post:
bjim, Cranker, fn59, Gates07, ifonlyihad1, mechanicman, runamok, SARGEQUANGTRI, schylla, staticrider, steveOtoo, teamwork000, ttboy, wattso99
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A diver swims more than 65 metres below the surface, where the light is dim and temperatures drop below -1.5 degrees Celcius.
One of Antarctica’s 16 species of octopus sits on the bottom. All Antarctic octopuses have a specialised pigment in their blood, turning it blue, to help them survive subfreezing temperatures.
A young Weddell seal sits in an ice gap. The juvenile will be about 3 metres long and weigh half a tonne once it's fully grown.
For nearly five hours at a time, divers documented plant and animal life up to 70 metres below the surface.
The most southerly breeding mammal in the world, a Weddell seal, swims beneath the ice. The seals stay near the coast, breathing air through holes in the ice.
A diver swims beneath several feet of Antarctic ice. The rope hanging nearby helps divers find their way back to the surface.
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The Following 21 Users Say Thank You to Justdroppedin For This Useful Post:
bjim, Cranker, fn59, Fog, Gabacho, Gates07, Gravedigger, ifonlyihad1, jedi, lobsterpot, mechanicman, MinnPinn, runamok, SARGEQUANGTRI, staticrider, steveOtoo, stuman, teamwork000, The Noof, ttboy, wattso99
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Amazing photos. Thanks so much.
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The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Gabacho For This Useful Post:
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REALLY AMAZING pics !!!!
Thanx Justdroppedin
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The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to SARGEQUANGTRI For This Useful Post:
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it looks a little cold to swim there
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