Rare footage captures giant jellyfish living under Arctic ice (Report)

Scientists spotted this huge jellyfish (<em>Chrysaora melanaster</em>) dragging a crustacean with one of its tentacles under the sea ice covering the Chukchi Sea off the north coast of Alaska.

 (Andrew Juhl and Craig Aumack)

Biologists who explore the Alaskan Arctic ecosystem aren’t just interested in polar bears. Some are also captivated by the “gelatinous species” hidden below the ice.

Now, scientists have published rare footage of one of the Arctic’s largest jellyfish drifting beneath the sea ice near Utqiaġvik, also known as Barrow, off the north coast of Alaska.

Such videos aren’t easy to get. From May to June each year between 2011 and 2014, the team of researchers drove onto the frozen Chukchi Sea with snowmobiles, sometimes nearly 2 miles (3 kilometers) from shore, and drilled holes into the thick sea ice. They sent a camera-equipped underwater vehicle into the water to…