Scientists find life 900 metres below ice sheet in Antarctica, possibility of new species to be ascertained

The scientists at the British Antarctic Survey said that they did not set out looking for life and that the discovery was accidental. The creatures were found attached to a boulder in the arctic seas under the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf, which is a massive floating ice sheet spanning more than 579,000 square miles in Antarctica.

Credit: Twitter

New Delhi: In a major breakthrough, scientists have found life buried about  900 metres or 3000 feet below the ice in Antarctica. The discovery has challenged the assumption that nothing could survive in such conditions.

The scientists at the British Antarctic Survey said that they did not set out looking for life and that the discovery was accidental. They stumbled upon sponge-like animals as they drilled 2860 feet into an ice sheet.

The creatures were found attached to a boulder in the arctic seas under the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf, which is a massive floating ice sheet spanning more than 579,000 square miles in Antarctica.

"The area underneath these ice shelves is probably one of the least-known habitats on Earth. We didn't think that these kinds of animals, like sponges, would be found there," said Huw Griffiths, a marine biologist and part of the team that made the discovery, in a Twitter video.

The scientists said that they were drilling through the ice sheet to collect samples from the seafloor and that "never in a million years would (they) have thought about looking for this kind of life."

During drilling, their camera hit a boulder. When they reviewed the camera's footage, they made the startling discovery.

The video shared by the British Antarctic Survey on Twitter shows two types of unidentified stationary animals. While the animals in red seem to have long stalks, the other type of animal, highlighted in white, looks like a round sponge-like animal. These animals were found about 160 miles from the open sea.

Check out the video here:

Accidental discovery of extreme life! Far underneath the ice shelves of the #Antarctic, there’s more life than expected: https://t.co/atdkiv1GrA

BAS marine biologist Dr Huw Griffiths @griffiths_huw explains... pic.twitter.com/Z6OUw4oQNs — British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) February 15, 2021

Prior to the discovery, scientists believed it was impossible for living creatures to thrive in Antarctica's frigid temperatures under the surface and lack of light and food.

"Our discovery raises so many more questions than it answers, such as how did they get there? What are they eating? How long have they been there?" said Griffith.

The next step before the scientists is to understand whether the animals were from a previously unknown species.