Inkfish Antarctic Expedition Leg 2

Leg 2 of our Antarctica Expedition, led by Heather Stewart, concentrated on the Geology and Oceanography of the South Shetland Trench. This second expedition to the region built on the crucial baseline data data acquired by the Inkfish team on Leg 1, led by Alan Jamieson from the Deep-Sea Research Centre, and includes work to document the habitats and biodiversity of the South Shetland Trench. 

During Leg 2 we expanded our seafloor mapping the region to try and understand the tectonic evolution of the South Shetland Trench and the collapse of this glacial environment, as it’s one of the fastest warming areas on the planet. 

Across both expeditions our data reveal tantalising insights into the biodiversity (highlights such as the mighty grenadier, sea spiders, red and white jellyfish, Antarctic squid, and brittle stars), glacial evolution, ice flow, dropstones, and more!

During both Legs of the Antarctic Expedition we also investigated the movement of water and changes in the physical oceanographic conditions, and collected samples for eDNA analysis back in the lab.

Check out our surprise encounter with the first sleeper shark to be filmed in situ across the entire Southern Ocean.

Stay tuned to learn about our findings!