The Hidden Ocean: Explorations Under the Ice of the Western Arctic - The Pelagic Fauna: Phase II

In June/July 2005, an international team of 45 scientists from the United States, Canada, China and Russia participated in a collaborative effort to explore the frigid depths of the Canada Basin, located in one of the deepest parts of the Arctic Ocean. This expedition is named "The Hidden Ocean" because this part of the Arctic Ocean is covered with sea ice for most of the year and thus difficult to reach. Therefore very little information is currently available about the diversity of life in this region of the world although this information is urgently needed to build a baseline of data to evaluate the impacts of changing environmental conditions, including warming and ice melt in the Arctic over the last four decades. Operating from the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy and funded by NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration, scientists examined the hidden world of life in these extreme conditions with the aid of divers, photographic platforms and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) specially designed to operate under ice and at great depth. More traditional techniques like ice coring, plankton nets and bottom trawls supported these efforts.