Environment

North Pole Sea Anemone: Most Northerly Creature in the World

by cyn.khoo | August 1, 2009 at 05:13 pm

178 views | 30 Recommendations | 4 comments

The North Pole sea anemone has been identified as being the most northerly species in the world, living in the water directly below the icy crust at the north pole.

The anemone was found in the Arctic sea bed in 2007, during the Russian exploration of the region using the submersibles Mir-1 and Mir-2. At the time, the Russians planted their flag beneath the north pole and ignited international controversy between Arctic nations due to the potential wealth to be extracted from oil and mineral resources in the region.

The North Pole sea anemone was discovered 4,282 meters deep on August 2, 2007, in the upper layer of mud underneath the ice. The waters in which the sea anemone was found had been concealed by a layer of permanent ice for over 800,000 years.

According to biologist Nadya Sanamyan, from the Pacific Institute of Geography in Kamchatka, the sea anemone is the only species living at the north pole that has been identified.

"The video taken at the bottom of North Pole shows occasional shrimps and amphipods in the water, but they have not been collected and there are absolutely no chances to identify them. And I do not think that there are any chances to collect them in the coming decades. The dive under the ice of North Pole is too hazardous to be repeated."

As The Guardian reports, "more people have walked on the moon than seen the seabed beneath the North Pole", and the conditions seems just as, if not more, strange and extreme. Features of the North Pole seabed include: a thick layer of yellowish mud made of extremely fine particles, no water current whatsoever, and a severe lack of nutrients and dissolved oxygen in the water.

6 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Paschen

at 18:39 on August 1st, 2009

This is a great post and very interesting read.

cyn.khoo

at 18:41 on August 1st, 2009

Thanks, Paschen!

sara star

at 19:45 on August 1st, 2009

WOW, reads like a science fiction, or X files - Mulder come back.

...more people have walked on the moon than seen the seabed beneath the North Pole

....the sea anemone is the only species living at the north pole that has been identified.