Phenomenal 'lobster-like creatures' discovered more than 1,500 feet into Antarctic ice

Scientists have made an astonishing discovery after finding lobster-like creatures beneath the depths of the Antarctic ice.

It’s hard to comprehend how any living creature can survive freezing cold temperatures, but after drilling more than half a mile below the surface of an ice sheet, experts found an unexpected slow-moving river where animals are living.

The subglacial river has been hidden for millennia but was uncovered during a recent expedition. Researchers drilled over 1,600 feet into the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, where they found the river below the Ross Ice Shelf.

The river is about as deep as a 30-story building and is a blend of both fresh and seawater, and is slowly travelling towards the ocean.

Expedition leader Huw Horgan explained: “We struck water at the end of the borehole and with the help of our camera, we even discovered a school of lobster-like creatures — 400 kilometres from the open ocean.”

  Craig Stevens

Researchers believe that the river swells around once every decade – this occurs when nearby lakes drain into it. It’s thought the surges in the river could be causing an acceleration of ice melt as it carves out channels in the ice, moving around nutrients that help to sustain life.

The discovery is an important one in terms of our understanding of ice melt and sea level rise.

Experts fear that subglacial rivers such as this may be thinning glaciers from the bottom up, which may make it easier for land-based ice to get into the ocean and speed up sea-level rise, which may increase the risk of flooding in extreme weather and put pressure on food systems.

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