January 26, 2015 — Researchers drilling through a half mile of ice in west Antarctica came upon a surprising discovery: a population of fish and other invertebrates living deep beneath the ice sheet in extreme cold and perpetual darkness.
It's the farthest south that fish have ever been found, scientists said. The discovery was made earlier this month by researchers with Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling, or WISSARD. The National Science Foundation-funded team is investigating the "grounding zone" — the place where Antarctic ice, land and sea all converge — of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, roughly 530 miles (850 kilometers) from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica's Ross Sea.
Using a specially designed hot-water drill, the team bored through nearly 2,500 feet (740 meters) of the Ross Ice Shelf — the world's largest body of floating ice, the size of France. They became the first ever to reach and sample the grounding zone. Submersible cameras sent down the drilling hole on Jan. 16 revealed fish and marine crustaceans living under the ice in dark, 28-degree Fahrenheit (-2 Celsius) waters, NSF said.