SearchThere are few places in the world where fish colonies thrive. But in Antarctica, under the ice covering the Wedell Sea, marine ecologists just discovered an enormous stretch of icefish nests covering over 92 square miles (240 square kilometers).
On each circular nest, spread about 10 inches apart, a single adult male guards an estimated 2,100 eggs. Thought to be as many as 12,000 solitary males, this finding makes the largest colony of nesting icefish ever discovered. This unique group of fish, found only in Antarctica, has little hemoglobin, no red blood cells and survives because the waters here have a high oxygen content.
A German research ship, breaking the ice and looking out for whales, was towing video cameras close to the sea floor to monitor life below the ice.
The Weddell Sea has long been considered an “ecological hot spot” and scientists have been seeking to get a treaty passed to protect this abundant and extreme environment.
