Submersible Vehicle Discovers Rich Algae Blooms Beneath Polar Ice in Areas Previously Thought Barren

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts have used the remotely operated Nereid Under Ice Vehicle to capture video evidence of rich blooms of algae thriving beneath sheets of polar ice in areas previously thought barren.

With Nereid we saw not only a big bloom of plankton but also subsequent blooms of zooplankton feeding on the phytoplankton. First copepods, then jellies and salps. They were concentrated in the few metres of meltwater under the ice in fantastic abundances.