‘Nothing but fish nests’: huge icefish colony found in Antarctic sea

The colony of icefish is about a third of the size of London.

A team of biologists made a surprise discovery of about 60 million active nests while collecting routine data above the southern Weddell Sea. The largest colony contained only 60.

Autun Purser, the lead author of the study, said that they saw nothing but fish nest during the first four hours of their dive.

The cameras will try to establish how the system works. The Alfred Wegener Institute is pictured.

The ocean floor observation and bathymetry system, a large, towed camera device that records photos, videos and takes measurements of deep-sea habitats, was used to find the ecosystem.

Researchers were interested in the area because of the process called upwelling, in which wind and currents bring cold water to the surface, causing the water to be 2C warmer than the surrounding area.

The fish may use the warmer water as a way to find their way around the colony. He said that when they feel like reproducing, they look for the warmer water.

The largest colony of icefish has been found, stretching across more than 150 miles of the sea. The large colony suggests that the whole sea is influenced by the nests.

It is very likely that seals are eating the fish nest. If you lost the fish nest, you would lose the seals. It must have a knock-on effect for the Weddell Sea, and possibly elsewhere in the Antarctic waters.

There were still big gaps in understanding how deep-sea organisms work. He said that the deep seas are abundant in life. The fact that there are so many large ecosystems we didn't know about shows how much is out there.

The cameras will be on the scene for the next two years to see how the system works. The researchers plan to return to the region in April 2022, to see if the fish breed again in the same nest.