Wonders of the deep: Stunning pictures of strange and unique Antarctic sea life
19th December 2009

Amazing pictures of Southern Ocean marine life captured by scientists working in the Antarctic were released today. The inhabitants of the continent's seas were captured as part of a study on biodiversity carried out by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).  Images of the marine creatures, which were taken in the Bellingshausen Sea, West Antarctica, include ice fish, sea pigs and crustaceans. The underwater images also show giant sea spiders, rare rays and beautiful basket stars.

 

'Few people realise just how rich in biodiversity the Southern Ocean is - even a single trawl can reveal a fascinating array of weird and wonderful creatures as would be seen on a coral reef,' said BAS research cruise leader Dr David Barnes. 'These animals are potentially very good indicators of environmental change as many occur in the shallows, which are changing fast, but also in deeper water which will warm much less quickly.

 

 

'We can now begin to get a better understanding of how the ecosystem will adapt to change. 'Our new studies on the diverse range of marine creatures living in the deep waters of the Bellingshausen Sea will help us build a more complete picture of Antarctica's marine biodiversity and give us an important baseline against which we can compare future impact on marine life.'