Earlier this year, an enormous iceberg spanning around 209 square miles (510 square kilometres) calved from the George VI Ice Shelf, a floating glacier attached to the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet.
The event presented a unique opportunity for deep-sea researchers on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) to explore a vast area of ocean that had never been accessible to humans.
The team reached the newly exposed seafloor on 25 January, and with the aid of their remotely operated vehicle (ROV SuBastian) they began to investigate.
“We didn’t expect to find such a beautiful, thriving ecosystem," says expedition co-chief scientist Dr. Patricia Esquete.
“Based on the size of the animals, the communities we observed have been there for decades, maybe even hundreds of years.”
The researchers made numerous astonishing discoveries beneath the iceberg, including icefish, octopuses and giant sea spiders. They also recorded the first-ever footage of a glacial glass squid.
But one of the most striking animals filmed on the eight-day expedition was a giant phantom jelly (Stygiomedusa gigantea). This mauve-coloured jellyfish can grow to a colossal size: the bell can be more than one metre (3.3 feet) across, and the animal's four ribbon-like 'oral arms' can reach lengths of more than 10 metres (33 feet).
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The giant phantom jelly is a rare and mysterious deep-sea jellyfish known for its ghostly, translucent appearance. Unlike most jellyfish, it lacks tentacles and uses its arms to capture prey.
First collected in 1899, it wasn't recognised as a species until 60 years later. It has been seen fewer than 150 times by researchers, mostly via deep-sea submersibles such as Schmidt Ocean Institute's ROV SuBastian.
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