Ecology
Flea-like small crustaceans that depend on Arctic ice can use deep-sea currents as conveyors to return to the flock after their ice floes break off and they go to sea, the researchers said.
If these living creatures actually use this type of transport when they're carried far out into the open sea, it could help them survive warmer Arctic summers, when the planet is warming up unusually.
Researchers hope that this discovery will change the perception that fauna living in ice will disappear under global warming.
The disappearance of ice
As the climate changes, the Arctic loses more and more ice during the summer. This summer, the Arctic experienced a record low amount of ice cover — only 4.1 million square kilometers, which remained in the area by the end of August. Researchers are not yet able to say for sure whether and when all the ice will ever melt. According to some estimates, this may happen in 10-30 years.
Arctic megafauna, such as polar bears and walruses, are highly dependent on sea ice to help them survive, as do many other creatures that are less visible. Bocoplavas, tiny crustaceans that resemble a mixture of fleas and prawns, are one example.
Ice-dependent sidewalks spend their whole lives hooked on ice under water and feed on the microscopic algae that grows there.
Norwegian marine biologists from the University Center of Spitsbergen collected samples of the most common dark-eyed and transparent bodies called Apherusa glacialis in January. They found these shrimp-like crustaceans at a depth of 200 to 2,000 meters.
About half of the flanks caught were females with eggs. This was rather strange, because scientists had never seen flanks multiply in January before.
Adapting to global warming
The discovery of A. glacialis crustaceans at great depths has allowed scientists to speculate about how these creatures are able to survive despite the melting ice. They suggested that ice floes, breaking away from the bulk of the glacier, move into the open ocean, and with them the sidewalls. When the ice floes sail a decent distance, the crustaceans unhook and sink to greater depths. At a distance of about 200-900 meters from the surface, they catch underwater currents that move them closer to the coast rather than carry them further into the ocean. Thus, the currents allow the bocoplaves to return to their “homeland”.
The researchers calculated that within 9-10 months, the sidewalls, together with ice floes, sail to the same distance, which they can then cover in the opposite direction in 2-3 months with the help of underwater currents. Thus, bocoplavs are able to survive summer without ice and then return home during the winter when the environment is more suitable for them and they can find food more easily.
Of course, these conclusions should still be carefully checked, the scientists warned. However, the theory will explain how the bocoplave managed to survive the periods of warm climates that took place about 8,000 years ago. If all assumptions and theories are correct, then there is hope that these creatures can adapt perfectly to changing conditions. Even if the Arctic ice melts, they'll be able to survive.