【Science and Technology News】On March 7, a British photography team photographed a large number of colorful starfish and 3-meter-long Antarctic giant insects under the thick ice of Antarctica. Through time-lapse photography, they found that a large number of deep-sea creatures had gathered temporarily, frantically competing to eat a dead seal that had sunk to the bottom of the sea. What kind of creature is the Antarctic giant insect, why does such a creature suddenly appear in Antarctica, and what is the impact of the appearance of the Antarctic giant insect on us humans?
【What is an Antarctic Giant Worm: Revealing What kind of creature antarctic giant worm is】
Nemertine worms, also known as shoelaces or ribbon worms, belong to the button-shaped animal phylum. Some species are scavengers, but most are very voracious predators that feed on long noses that shoot out of their mouths. Depending on the species, their nasals may be toxic or they can secrete viscous fluids. In Antarctica, this seaworm often feeds on mussels and crustaceans. They also gather with starfish and eat seal excrement.
In this undersea scene filmed for the "Life" series, a large number of invertebrates flock to a dead seal that has sunk to the bottom of the sea and begin to enjoy a delicious meal. The sinking of seal bodies to the bottom of the sea may only occur once every ten years. Neoploids can use nasal objects to drill holes in the seal's skin so that they and other marine animals such as woodlices can burrow into the seal to feed.
Starfish eat more slowly, spitting their stomach out of their cavities when they eat. The starfish presses its stomach against the seal's skin, using the secreted digestive juices to break down the seal's tissue. The sea urchin also arrived, hoping to get a piece of the pie. Like giant insects, they are colorful. Not only do these creatures sometimes camouflage themselves with shells, but they also live up to 40 years. Due to the low water temperature in Antarctica, many organisms living under the ice grow very slowly. However, they have a long lifespan and can grow to a large size.
Other more common carnivores such as crabs dominate the seabed of temperate and tropical oceans. However, the fossil record shows that the animals disappeared in Antarctic waters about 35 million years ago, when temperatures here are slowly decreasing. Now there are neither lobsters nor crabs in Antarctica. There are also very few sharks and harriers, etc. Some very exotic animals lurk there, including sea urchins, starfish, giant insects and giant underwater spider crabs. The crab can grow up to 30 centimeters in diameter and have a lifespan of up to several decades.
Last year researchers warned that continued global warming poses a threat to these unique marine life. Over the past 50 years, the surface temperature around Antarctica has risen by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius, more than twice as fast as the global average. This will prompt crabs to migrate into the waters, followed by sharks and the like, which will wipe out the local life in large numbers.
If that happened, these rulers on the Antarctic seafloor would no longer be slow-moving mollusks, a situation scientists believe is very similar to what they saw in ancient oceans dominated by the evolution of crustacean carnivores.
【What is the impact of the appearance of Antarctic giant insects on us humans?】 】
Antarctic giant insect is a slowly rising insect, breeding consequences are unimaginable, Antarctic giant insect is very lethal, it will destroy a large number of local creatures. The emergence of Antarctic giant insects reminds human beings that it is urgent to protect the earth's environmental protection.
Some netizens said that although there is no big impact at present, if the spirit of science fiction is exerted, such as biological mutations, this bug is estimated to become a human nightmare.
In the icy waters of the McMurdo Strait in Antarctica, so many creatures may only encounter once in a decade. We have also taken stock of many similar organisms today, whether it is caused by global warming or biological mutation, we humans really need to think about it!
【New species emerging in Antarctica with global warming】
Due to global warming, two major ice shelves in Antarctica collapsed one after another, and a seabed with an area of 10,000 square kilometers was revealed, allowing scientists from 14 countries to discover many unknown new species, look at the pictures of these strange creatures, and feel the magic of nature.
For example, organisms like octopuses, corals and shrimp. The researchers have classified 1,000 species in the Antarctic seabed region. The researchers believe that the continuous global warming has led to the disintegration of the Antarctic ice shelf, which has affected the living environment of marine life.
In addition, some time ago, there was a lot of news about Antarctica for everyone to pay attention to, the most eye-catching of which is [millions of giant king crabs invading Antarctica, or causing ecological disasters]
Remote-controlled submarines spotted more than 1 million giant king crabs in Palmer Deep, a mud bed basin located 850 meters below the continental shelf off the coast of Antarctica. The emergence of this exotic large carnivore may be the first sign of an ecological catastrophe.
The foot length of the giant king crab is up to 1 meter. The boat also brought a pregnant female crab to the surface. The report, published in the journal Royal Society Bulletin, Series B: Biological Sciences, suggests the crabs may have been living there for 30 to 40 years, and the devastating environmental impact of rising water temperatures has caused them to climb higher. The higher the water temperature rises the further down the Antarctic waters, the king crab has not yet migrated to the main part of the continental shelf at a depth of 500 meters. Scientists worry that if they climb the main continental shelf, they could wreak havoc on the ecology. The size of the crabs, which are often cooked because of their abundance of meat, means that they naturally become the top carnivores in the waters where they appear.
Dozens of new species have been found deep beneath antarctica's ice, many resembling alien creatures. This is a spotted foot animal that was brought to the ice not long before filming. The animal's habitat is a completely pitch-black world, also 1,000 kilometers from the nearest ocean, liquid water under the ice is only 9 meters, and the temperature is only minus 2 degrees Celsius.
Antarctica is currently the only continent in the world that has not been greatly exploited by humans. It retains its ancient face for hundreds of millions of years. We have to admit that deep in this frozen continent there are still ancient species that we have never known. For now, Russian scientists think they may find a new species of bacteria that has been trapped for 14 million years in lakes beneath Antarctica's glaciers.
Deep under the ice in Antarctica is a completely dark world, and all indications are that there should be no life here, but this is not the case. Scientists have recently discovered dozens of new species deep under the Antarctic ice, many resembling alien creatures.