Ever wondered what’s under an iceberg? On Jan. 13, off the coast of Chile, a Chicago-sized iceberg, A-84, broke away from an enormous floating glacier that is attached to the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet. 

An international team on the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) headed there directly, arriving on Jan. 25, to explore the newly exposed sea floor, which had previously been inaccessible to humans.

Using the institute’s remotely operated vehicle, ROV SuBastian, the team stayed for eight days to study the sea floor, and found “flourishing ecosystems” even at more than 4,200 feet, including corals and sponges, not to mention other marine life, including “icefish, giant sea spiders and octopus” and several new species. Neatly hidden away under an iceberg, all this time.

“We didn’t expect to find such a beautiful, thriving ecosystem,” expedition co-chief scientist Patricia Esquete said. “Based on the size of the animals, the communities we observed have been there for decades, maybe even hundreds of years.” (Photo: ROV SuBastion/Schmidt Ocean Institute)