Shrimp Surprise

In November 2009, at nearly 600 feet below the Windless Bight on the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica, NASA scientists dropped a borehole camera, hoping to capture some of the first images of what life is like beneath an ice shelf. The borehole camera actually consists of three cameras: one that looks forward, one that looks to the side, and one that looks backward. The scientists drilled an eight-inch diameter hole in which to drop the probe, and what they found below the ice shelf really surprised them: one little, orange shrimp swimming about.

The shrimp, who was seen via the backward-looking camera, has been identified as a  three-inch long Lyssianasid amphipod. The Windless Bight is 12.5 miles away from any open water, and while all kinds of life forms can thrive in the Antarctic waters, the lone shrimp was still quite unexpected. One of the scientists explains, "We were like little kids huddling around, just oohing and aahing at this little creature swimming around and giving us a little show. It was the thrill of discovery that made us giddy; just totally unexpected."

So, of course the scientists have to wonder: if we can find life in some of the most unexpected places here on Earth, why could life not exist elsewhere in the universe?

Watch the video of the shrimp and read the NASA article here.