London – Para ilmuwan masih mengaku terkejut bisa menemukan ‘dunia hilang’ yang telah lama tersembunyi dalam kegelapan dasar laut Antartika seluas 2.400 meter itu. Ingin tahu?
Saat itu, para ilmuwan Inggris ini sedang menjelajah pesisir Antartika dan menemukan koloni kehidupan laut termasuk kepiting, gurita dan bintang laut yang benar-benar baru dalam dunia sains hidup di kedapalam laut itu.
Alasan keberadaan mereka sangat menakjubkan mengingat adanya gunung api bawah laut yang sering menyemburkan asap hitam yang dapat membuat suhu naik 380C. Suhu seperti ini bisa melelehkan timah.
Pemimpin riset, Profesor Alex Rogers dari University of Oxford, mengatakan seperti dikutip DM,
“Kami menemukan komunitas organisme yang belum pernah ditemukan di Bumi sedang berjuang hidup”. Hasil studi ini diterbitkan di jurnal PLoS Biology.
Mysteries of the deep: Anemones and barnacles near a hydrothermal vent 8,000 feet down near the East Scotia Ridge in Antarctica
On the shelf: Sea anemones and barnacles flourish in complete darkness, drawing energy from breaking down highly toxic chemicals found in the smoke
Octopus's garden: The team found what they believe is a completely new species of the creature in the ocean's depths
Claws for thought: Another of the two dozen new species found was a 16cm-long 'yeti crab', which was piled in huge heaps of up to 600 near the vents
Cooked crab: Some of the creatures had gone so close to the vents that they had visible burn marks on their shells
The creatures were found on top of undersea volcanoes called hydrothermal vents, which pump out plumes of black smoke causing temperatures to rise to 380C - hot enough to melt lead
Although temperatures are boiling immediately around the vent, they cool to around 20C a few hundred metres away. This is where the sea creatures congregate
Searchlight: The eight-week mission unearthed many new species using a deep sea rover controlled from a nearby vessel
This diagram shows the location in Antarctica of the East Scotia Ridge
