Creepy, cool, creatures!

Without a doubt I know that most people have never heard of a sea cucumber, orange sea stars, fan-finned ice fish, and many more exotic creatures. Most people have never heard of these creatures because they are located under the ice in the Antarctic. The Antarctic has very thick ice so it is unlikely for anyone to discover creatures without highly developed equipment. Read below to find out how these creature were found!

Who:

A man named Chapelle along with a few other scientists went to the area to learn more about underwater life.

What:

Exotic sea creatures were discovered. For example there were blue ice fish, long-limbed sea stars, sea squirts, and sea cucumbers. Blue ice fish are unusual fish with fins that look like fans. In addition this fish lacks the amount of red cells that are expected. Next, long-limbed sea stars are creatures that are similar to the ice fish. Some of the sea stars found had over five arms!
Sea squirts are found in thick settlements, and look like jelly blobs. Sea cucumbers are known to move in groups and in only one direction. Scientists collected over 100 of specimens. The scientists referred to these creatures as shrimp-like amphipods because the mostly fit into the category of cnidarians, organisms related to coral, jellyfish and sea anemones.

Where:

These sea creatures were found of the Antarctic Coast on a land surrounded by ice.

When:

these sea creatures are almost 5,000 years old! Some ice layers have weakened throughout the years. For instance, one happened 12 years ago and another occurred 5 years ago!

Why:

These sea creatures were discovered because of the Global Warming occurring. The ice around the Antarctic was melting. Glaciologists say that the ice was like a dam because it delayed the glaciers as the move over towards the coast. This then cause some ice layers to collapse and therefore it made a great opportunity for the explorers to investigate. Before, all explorers would have to look through holes which they would make by drilling deep into the ice.

My Opinion:

I found this article very intriguing. To tell you the truth, this article would have to be the most interesting out of all of my current events! What this article means to me is that a whole other species has been discovered! I really enjoyed this passage because it shows me how the world is growing everyday. Before today I have never heard of sea squirts. From reading about sea squirts it told me interesting facts about this new creature.

If you would like to learn more about these creatures visit...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/02/25/antarctica.icecreatures.reut/index.html