AMERICANALMANAC (Sadie Smith) - Antarctic krill found at deep-sea volcanic vents for the first time, raising new questions about ocean life
Scientists discovered egg-laden Antarctic krill thriving nearly 3,600 feet below the surface at hydrothermal vents, a finding that upends long-held assumptions about one of the ocean's most important creatures. A research team operating a remotely piloted submarine off the Antarctic Peninsula in late 2024 spotted the tiny crustaceans drifting through superheated water near a volcanic […] The post Antarctic krill found at deep-sea volcanic vents for the first time, raising new questions about ocean life appeared first on American Almanac .
Scientists discovered egg-laden Antarctic krill thriving nearly 3,600 feet below the surface at hydrothermal vents, a finding that upends long-held assumptions about one of the ocean's most important creatures. A research team operating a remotely piloted submarine off the Antarctic Peninsula in late 2024 spotted the tiny crustaceans drifting through superheated water near a volcanic vent on the seafloor, a place no one expected to find them. The four krill collected were all reproductive females, packed with eggs and apparently feeding on microbes unique to the vent site. The discovery, published in the journal Communications Biology, marks the first confirmed observation of Antarctic krill at a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. The finding…Open