Float beneath the ice in the White Sea of northern Russia. This short but stunning video, filmed under a thick ice sheet by the Aquatilis dive team from Moscow University’s White Sea Biological Station, captures moving images of a sea angel (Clione limacina) and a ctenophore or comb jelly, both floating peacefully in the icy water. From marine biologist and photographer Alexander Semenov:
Sea angels are beautiful and mysterious creatures. These cold-water pteropod mollusks are among the most studied objects in neurobiology, but at the same time little is known about their life cycle. At some point they suddenly appear under an ice cap covering the sea, and in a few weeks there are so many that in one cubic meter of water column there can be up to 500 sea angels! With their size of 3-5 cm it is quite a spectacular sight. β
The Aquatilis Expedition is “an epic underwater journey through the unknown, set to explore the world’s most extraordinary creatures.” Their mission promotes environmental conservation through high-quality videos and photography.
Watch these related videos next:
β’Β The βsecret worldβ below the Antarctic ice sheet
β’Β NOAAβs Okeanos Explorer in the Mariana Trench
β’Β Small fish hide inside a sea jelly
β’Β The melibe nudibranch grabs at food with a net-like mouth
β’Β These stunning sea slugs steal βweaponsβ from their ingested hydroid prey
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.
