A team of scientists, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), heads to Antarctica this week to investigate a mysterious marine ecosystem that’s been hidden beneath an Antarctic ice shelf for up to 120,000 years. These are the first moving images of the iceberg known as A-68, which calved off from the Larsen Ice Shelf in July 2017. The scientists will travel by BAS Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross to collect samples from the newly exposed seabed, which covers an area of around 5,818 km2. It is an urgent mission. The ecosystem that’s likely been hidden beneath the ice for thousands of years may change as sunlight starts to alter the surface layers of the sea.
The international team, from nine research institutes, leaves Stanley in the Falkland Islands on 21 February to spend three weeks in February-March 2018 on board the BAS research ship RRS James Clark Ross. Who knows what creatures they might find?
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