Diving under the sea ice of Antarctica for science

Dr Jenny Hillman is a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland. Last year she had the opportunity to dive under the sea ice in Antarctica, to study the effects of climate change on the seafloor ecosystems.

The team were particularly interested in how ecosystem functioning is influenced by irregular sea ice breakouts which have huge impacts on the animal community under the ice. As well as conducting multiple large-scale in-situ experiments, the team also took more than 40 cameras, including a Boxfish virtual reality 360° camera and two drones.

Jenny will explain the virtually unknown and hidden world that exists under the sea ice, and share some of the research that is being done on this world.