Sea pigs, icefish and trilobites: Antarctica's mysterious marine life
True trilobites went extinct more than 250m years ago, but the Southern Ocean is home to a living lookalike: Ceratoserolis trilobitoides . They have a segmented, armoured exoskeleton, which helps protect them from predators.
The Victoria brittle star has five slender arms that can span up to 10cm. It is both a predator and a scavenger, feeding on an array of invertebrates (including krill), organic detritus and even juvenile brittle stars. This species can regenerate lost limbs much faster than other echinoderms.
These amphipods are small shrimp-like crustaceans found on Antarctica's seafloor. They are carnivores, feeding on polychaetes, amphipods, small crustaceans and other organic detritus.
This scale worm has been photographed from the underside. It is one of the more bizarre-looking creatures living on the ocean floor, known for its flat body covered in ornamented scales called elytra. This particular large Antarctic scale worm is adorned in an iridescent gold 'coat', making it one of the more glamorous creatures on the seafloor. Less glamorous are its eating habits: carnivorous, its retractable proboscis projects itself during feeding, making the worm look like it has massive jaws with fangs.
The Sea pig gets its name from its pink-hued body and love of the muddy sea floor, but it's actually a type of sea cucumber. It uses its tube-like feet to move across the sea floor, scavenging for bits of nutrient rich organic food – nature's vacuum cleaner!
The ship is now sailing home from its first scientific voyage. It spent about two months off the coast of the Denman Glacier, one of the fastest retreating glaciers in East Antarctica.
This isopod is a slow-maturing species that breeds only once in its lifetime. Females brood eggs in a marsupium, or pouch, where young develop for nearly two years before emerging as juveniles.
Jonah's icefish is notable for its adaptation to the extreme cold. Unlike most vertebrates, it lacks haemoglobin, resulting in nearly transparent blood. It relies on dissolved oxygen in its plasma to transport oxygen through its body, which allows it to thrive in the cold, oxygen-rich waters of the Southern Ocean.
A team from Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, led by James Cook University's Prof Jan Strugnell, is trying to answer two questions: what is the diversity, distribution and connectivity of marine invertebrates in East Antarctica? And what is the history of the ice in the region?
The spikes on this scale worm stick out from bristle-bearing appendages that it 'walks' on. The spikes are modified hard bristles called chaetae.
Pareledone is a genus of octopus found only in Antarctic waters. These seafloor dwellers live in shallow water and as deep as 4,000 metres. One Pareledone, the Turquet's octopus, helped scientists understand a mystery that had long puzzled them. Genetic analysis found that distinct populations from the Weddell, Amundsen and Ross seas interbred 125,000 years ago, showing that the West Antarctic ice sheet melted during the last interglacial, a time with climate conditions much like today.
With more than 500 described species, Nereidid worms are one of the most widespread polychaete families. They have been found living in a wide range of marine habitats. This Nereidid worm beautifully displays the characteristic chaetae-bearing lateral body segments called chaetigers.
Antarctic sea spiders can grow to unusually large sizes — a phenomenon called polar gigantism. Despite its name and appearance, it is not related to terrestrial spiders, with the fossil record suggesting that its evolution pre-dates land spiders by millions of years. The sea spider absorbs oxygen through its exoskeleton, essentially using its legs to breath! This one is about 20cm in diameter.
The team from Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future on the back deck of the RSV Nuyina.
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The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Australia news live: Antarctica at risk of ‘catastrophic' changes, scientists warn; Lehrmann appeal hearing to continue today
Update: Date: 2025-08-20T20:41:55.000Z Title: Dr Nerilie Abram Content: Antarctica could undergo abrupt and potentially irreversible changes that have catastrophic consequences unless urgent action is taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a review by 21 Australian and international scientists. Published in the journal Nature, the review of published Antarctic science found changes facing the southern continent were interlinked and putting pressure on the global climate, sea level and ecosystems. It highlights several risks, including: The 'severe risk' that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could collapse. If that happened, it could raise sea levels by more than three metres and threaten coastal cities and communities across the world. The accelerating disappearance of sea ice floating in the ocean around Antarctica. This has a range of knock-on effects, including worsening warming by increasing the amount of solar heat retained in the ocean and increasing the risk that species that rely on the ice, such as emperor penguins, could go extinct. The potential rapid slowdown of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation, which could alter the world's climate for centuries. Among other changes, it would mean vital nutrients stay at the seafloor instead of being recirculated back to the surface, where biological systems depend on them. , the chief scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division and the study's lead author, said: The only way to avoid further abrupt changes and their far-reaching impacts is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to limit global warming to as close to 1.5C as possible. Governments, businesses and communities will need to factor in these abrupt Antarctic changes that are being observed now into future planning for climate change impacts, including in Australia. Update: Date: 2025-08-20T20:30:49.000Z Title: Welcome Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer, bringing you the best overnight stories and then I'll be handing over to Nick Visser. A study by 21 Australian and international scientists reports today that Antarctica could undergo abrupt and potentially catastrophic changes unless urgent action is taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions. More shortly. It's the final day of the government's economic roundtable today. Yesterday there seemed to be consensus over a pause to changes to the nation's construction code, to give builders more certainty and hopefully speed up new housing. Plus, today Bruce Lehrmann's appeal hearing continues in the federal court, as he tries to reverse his loss in a defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. We'll bring you all the developments from that hearing as they come today.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
West Antarctic Ice Sheet is on the verge of a 'catastrophic' COLLAPSE – sparking 9.8ft of irreversible global sea level rise, scientists warn
It is one of the largest ice masses on Earth, covering an area of roughly 760,000 square miles. But the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is on the verge of a 'catastrophic' collapse, scientists have warned. As global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels continue to rise, researchers from the Australian National University say that the ice sheet is weakening, and is at increasing risk of collapsing altogether. If it did collapse, experts predict the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise sea levels by more than 9.8ft (three metres). This would plunge entire coastal cities and communities around the world underwater. Here in the UK, towns and cities including Hull, Skegness, Middlesbrough, and Newport would be covered in water. Meanwhile in Europe, much of the Netherlands, as well as Venice, Montpellier, and Gdansk, would be submerged. 'Rapid change has already been detected across Antarctica's ice, oceans and ecosystems, and this is set to worsen with every fraction of a degree of global warming,' said Dr Nerilie Abram, lead author of the study. In their study, the researchers set out to understand exactly what would happen if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed. Worryingly, their analysis indicates that a collapse would result in 'catastrophic consequences for generations to come.' 'The loss of Antarctic sea ice is another abrupt change that has a whole range of knock–on effects, including making the floating ice shelves around Antarctica more susceptible to wave–driven collapse,' Dr Abram explained. 'The decline in Antarctic sea ice and the slowdown of deep circulation in the Southern Ocean are showing worrying signs of being more susceptible to a warming climate than previously thought. 'As sea ice is lost from the ocean surface, it is also changing the amount of solar heat being retained in the climate system, and that is expected to worsen warming in the Antarctic region. 'Other changes to the continent could soon become unstoppable, including the loss of Antarctic ice shelves and vulnerable parts of the Antarctic ice sheet that they hold behind them.' One of the biggest impacts would be to Antarctica's wildlife and ocean ecosystems, according to Professor Matthew England, co–author of the study. 'The loss of Antarctic sea ice brings heightened extinction risk for emperor penguins, whose chicks depend on a stable sea ice habitat prior to growing their waterproof feathers,' he warned. 'The loss of entire colonies of chicks has been seen right around the Antarctic coast because of early sea ice breakout events, and some colonies have experienced multiple breeding failure events over the last decade.' Meanwhile, if the scientists' most extreme predictions are right and global sea levels do rise by 9.8ft, hundreds of coastal towns and cities could be plunged underwater. Climate Central's Coastal Risk Screening Tool shows the areas around the globe that would be worst hit. To use the tool, simply set the water level at 9.8ft and the areas that would be plunged underwater will appear in red on the map. Here in the UK, people living on the east coast of England would be worst hit. Coastal hubs including Hull, Skegness and Grimsby would be plunged underwater, while places as far inland as Peterborough and Lincoln would also become waterlogged. Further south, swathes of London would be affected. Several areas on the River Thames gleam red on the map, including Bermondsey, Greenwich, Battersea, and Chelsea. While the east coast of England would be most affected, several towns and cities on the west coast are also in the firing line, according to Climate Central. Neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Weston–super–Mare, Newport and Cardiff would all be plunged underwater, alongside parts of Southport and Blackpool. Residents in Northern Ireland and Scotland can mostly rest easy though, with few areas set to be affected. Elsewhere in Europe, Climate Central predicts that the entire coast stretching from Calais to south Denmark would be underwater, along with Venice. Over in the US, several towns and cities in the Southern states would probably be affected. These include New Orleans in Louisiana, Galveston in Texas and the Everglades in Florida. The researchers hope the findings will emphasise the urgent need to limit CO2 emissions and curb global warming. 'The only way to avoid further abrupt changes and their far–reaching impacts is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible,' Dr Abram said. 'Governments, businesses and communities will need to factor in these abrupt Antarctic changes that are being observed now into future planning for climate change impacts.' Antarctica's ice sheets contain 70% of world's fresh water - and sea levels would rise by 180ft if it melts Antarctica holds a huge amount of water. The three ice sheets that cover the continent contain around 70 per cent of our planet's fresh water - and these are all to warming air and oceans. If all the ice sheets were to melt due to global warming, Antarctica would raise global sea levels by at least 183ft (56m). Given their size, even small losses in the ice sheets could have global consequences. In addition to rising sea levels, meltwater would slow down the world's ocean circulation, while changing wind belts may affect the climate in the southern hemisphere. In February 2018, Nasa revealed El Niño events cause the Antarctic ice shelf to melt by up to ten inches (25 centimetres) every year. El Niño and La Niña are separate events that alter the water temperature of the Pacific ocean. The ocean periodically oscillates between warmer than average during El Niños and cooler than average during La Niñas. Using Nasa satellite imaging, researchers found that the oceanic phenomena cause Antarctic ice shelves to melt while also increasing snowfall. In March 2018, it was revealed that more of a giant France-sized glacier in Antarctica is floating on the ocean than previously thought.
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
Rapid loss of Antarctic ice may be climate tipping point, scientists say
CANBERRA, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Rapid loss of Antarctic sea ice could be a tipping point for the global climate, causing sea level rises, changes to ocean currents and loss of marine life that are impossible to reverse, a scientific study published, opens new tab on Thursday said. The paper in the journal Nature aimed to describe in previously unseen detail the interlocking effects of global warming on the Antarctic, the frozen continent at the planet's South Pole. "Evidence is emerging for rapid, interacting and sometimes self-perpetuating changes in the Antarctic environment," it said. The study gathered data from observations, ice cores, and ship logbooks to chart long-term changes in the area of sea ice, putting into context a rapid decline in recent years. "A regime shift has reduced Antarctic sea-ice extent far below its natural variability of past centuries, and in some respects is more abrupt, non-linear and potentially irreversible than Arctic sea-ice loss," it said, referring to melting at the North Pole. Changes are having knock-on effects across the ecosystem that in some cases amplify one another, said Nerilie Abram, the study's lead author. A smaller ice sheet reflects less solar radiation, meaning the planet absorbs more warmth, and will probably accelerate a weakening of the Antarctic Overturning Circulation, an ocean-spanning current that distributes heat and nutrients and regulates weather. Loss of ice is increasingly harming wildlife including emperor penguins, who breed on the ice, and krill, which feed below it. And warming surface water will further reduce phytoplankton populations that draw down vast quantities of carbon from the atmosphere, the study said. "Antarctic sea ice may actually be one of those tipping points in the Earth's system," said Abram, a former professor at the Australian National University (ANU) and now chief scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division. Reining in global carbon dioxide emissions would reduce the risk of major changes in the Antarctic but still may not prevent them, the study said. "Once we start losing Antarctic sea ice, we set in train this self-perpetuating process," Abram said. "Even if we stabilise the climate, we are committed to still losing Antarctic sea ice over many centuries to come."
