Arctic Ocean Seabed

Boulder with epigrowth, feather stars Heliometra glacialis, sea anemones Urticinia eques (left) and Hormathia digitata (right) and eggs of a snail (white). Seabed imagery taken by Greenpeace during a mapping survey of the Arctic Ocean, north of Svalbard (Norway). Start position: 80° 45.5 N, 17¡ 52.0 E end position: 80° 45.2 N, 17¡ 54.7 E and a depth range (m): 110-120. The underwater ecosystem deep in this region, is largely unknown to scientists. The region is under pressure from fishing fleets moving northwards, eager to exploit new fishing grounds revealed by melting sea ice, caused by climate change. The image was taken by a drop-camera flown approximately one metre above the sea bottom.