Shocking! Never-Before-Seen World Beneath Antarctica Has Been Filmed

Scientists have discovered an unearthly beauty beneath the Antarctic ocean.

According to Business Insider, the scientists attached a camera to a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) and deployed it under the sea ice at O'Brien Bay, near Casey research station in East Antarctica.

Upon checking on what the robot has captured, they were stunned to see the shockingly beautiful underwater world.

"When you think of the Antarctic coastal marine environment, the iconic species such as penguins, seals and whales usually steal the show," Dr. Glenn Johnstone, an Australian Antarctic Division biologist, told the news site.

"This footage reveals a habitat that is productive, colourful, dynamic and full of a wide variety of biodiversity, including sponges, sea spiders, urchins, sea cucumbers and sea stars."

"Occasionally an iceberg may move around and wipe out an unlucky community, but mostly the sea ice provides protection from the storms that rage above, making it a relatively stable environment in which biodiversity can flourish."

The robot was supposedly deployed to record the acidity, oxygen, salinity and temperature of the seawater.
Indian Express reported that the explorations is part of an Australian Antarctic Programme project. And Johnstone and his team are already at the final field component of the experiment where their goal is to determine the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions on Southern Ocean sea-floor communities under.

About a quarter to a third of all carbon dioxide emissions from our cars and factories are absorbed by the Earth's oceans, Native Energy reported.

Over time, the massive amount of the carbon dioxide emissions have altered the acidity of the ocean which in turn has affected the life cycles of many marine organisms.

"When carbon dioxide dissolves in this ocean, carbonic acid is formed. This leads to higher acidity, mainly near the surface, which has been proven to inhibit shell growth in marine animals and is suspected as a cause of reproductive disorders in some fish," National Geographic explains.

Ocean acidification remains the number one threat to communities found underwater.