Thread: Nothing But Fish Nests

Despite the constant bad news regarding the beating Mother Nature is getting there sometimes is some surprising find that shows that life abides.

Nothing but fish nests": huge icefish colony found in Antarctic sea



Researchers make unprecedented discovery of 60m active nests while collecting data in Weddell Sea


Researchers exploring Antarctica's seabed have discovered a thriving, unprecedented colony of icefish about a third of the size of London.

The surprise discovery of about 60 million active nests was made by a team of biologists while collecting routine data at 1.5-2.5 metres above the seafloor of Antarctica's southern Weddell Sea. Before this discovery, the largest found colony contained only 60 nests.

We expected to see the normal Antarctic seafloor [but] during the first four hours of our dive, we saw nothing but fish nests," said Autun Purser, of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany.

The ecosystem was found by accident using the ocean floor observation and bathymetry system, a large, towed camera device that records photos, videos and takes measurements of deep-sea habitats.

Researchers were initially interested in the area because of a process called upwelling, in which wind and currents bring cold water to the surface, causing the water to be 2C warmer than the surrounding area.

Purser suggested the fish may use this warmer water as a navigational tool to help track the colony. "When they feel like reproducing, they look for this warmer water and reproduce there," he said.

*snip*

Purser said the discovery showed there were still big gaps in understanding fully how deep-sea ecosystems functioned. "The deep seas are not desert wastelands, they are really abundant in life," he said. "The fact that there are such large ecosystems we didn't know about goes to show how much is probably out there to be discovered still."

‘Nothing but fish nests’: huge icefish colony found in Antarctic sea | Antarctica | The Guardian

Thought it said fish nets

I did too. I was imagining a pile of fish nets in the Wendell Sea and wondering how they got there before it registered NESTS.

Not often I prefer a post from backspin over yours miss K but this time I'm afraid his post well and truly trumps yours.