By Susan Milius
Researchers have taken clam digging to new extremes. To look for any mollusks or other creatures that live under several hundred meters of ice, scientists have just finished searching the ocean bottom off the Antarctic Peninsula. They cruised waters made more accessible when the Larsen A and B Ice Shelves shattered. For the exploration, they used a German icebreaker that pushes along at 5 knots through ice 1.5 m thick.
An earlier expedition to the area had videoed what looked like clams living there. That earlier expedition couldn’t bring back samples, but the new cruise could. The team is scheduled to announce its findings—of any mollusks and other forms of life—this week. The team has hinted at success though; the weekly reports that it posted on the Internet include pictures of clamshells.