A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) deployed by Australian scientists under the sea ice at O’Brien Bay, near Casey research station in East Antarctica has recorded a rare glimpse beneath the Antarctic sea ice, revealing an habitat that is productive, colourful, dynamic and full of a wide variety of biodiversity, including sponges, sea spiders, urchins, sea cucumbers,sea stars and coralline encrusting algae.
The footage was captured while scientists retrieved a pH data logger, which has been recording the acidity, oxygen, salinity and temperature of the seawater on an hourly basis since November last year. Designed to determine the impacts of ocean acidification on Southern Ocean sea-floor communities under increasing carbon dioxide emissions.