Visit to Antarctic’s seafloor finds it ‘carpeted with life’

A visit from a Greenpeace submarine to one of the most remote regions on our planet — the seafloor of the Antarctic Ocean — revealed a stunning underwater world that was “carpeted with life.”

“Our first dive in the Antarctic Ocean was amazing,” said John Hocevar, a Greenpeace marine biologist who piloted the submarine. “I really didn’t know what to expect, but we saw so much life, it was very diverse.

“There were a lot of species of sponges, corals, sea squirts, a lot of different kinds of sea stars and their relatives, basket stars and feather stars,” he said. “It was just incredible how the whole bottom was carpeted with life. I really didn’t expect it.”

The dive was part of Greenpeace’s three-month expedition to the Antarctic to carry out scientific research. The group says the mission’s goal “is to highlight the urgent need for the creation of the world’s largest protected area to safeguard fragile Antarctic ecosystems.” The sanctuary would be a 700,000-square-mile “safe haven” for marine life, Greenpeace said.

The proposal for the sanctuary has been submitted by the European Union to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Susanne Lockhart, a research associate at the California Academy of Science who visited the seafloor in the submarine, said there are clear indications of a vulnerable marine ecosystem there.

“We’ll be doing further exploration of the bottom of the sea to help determine specific areas that should be a priority for protection from commercial fishing in these pristine waters as well as building a body of evidence to support proposals for protection in the Antarctic Ocean,” she said.

A Greenpeace submarine returns to the surface near Livingston Island, Antarctica, following a dive to the seafloor. PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN ÅSLUND/GREENPEACE

Greenpeace has proposed a sanctuary to protect creatures such as this Antarctic sea urchin, found 300 meters down at Kinnes Cove.