A huge iceberg broke off Antarctica. What scientists found under it startled them. [View all]

[Zorro]

Crustaceans, snails, worms and fish are among the dozens of creatures that deep-sea explorers discovered under a massive Antarctic ice shelf.

Researchers were working off the coast of Antarctica when it happened: A gigantic iceberg about 19 miles long cracked off the ice sheet on Jan. 13, revealing a swath of ocean that had not seen daylight in decades.

The team aboard a research vessel called the Falkor (too) decided to search the seafloor under the freshly exposed ocean. No human had ever explored the deep sea there before.

“It’s the kind of event that when it happens, you leave whatever you’re doing,” said Patricia Esquete, the expedition’s chief scientist.

Still, expectations weren’t high. The scientists didn’t think much life could thrive tucked under such a thick blanket of ice.

But what the team members found under the iceberg surprised them: giant sea spiders, octopuses, ice fish, corals and sponges, including a vase-shaped one that might be hundreds of years old. In total, the researchers believe they will be able to identify dozens of new species from the expedition.

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