By: KEIRA SANDERS
Staff Writer
Scientists have discovered a mammoth nesting ground that is estimated to have 60 million icefish nests in the Weddell Sea. The craters were the size of a hula hoop and less than a foot apart. Each of them held a single, dull icefish with dark fins spread out like bat wings over a clutch of eggs.
Icefishes thrive in waters that are just above freezing with huge hearts and clear blood. The sighting of these fish was in February 2021, when the Polarstern research ship had come out to the Weddell Sea to study other things, but instead found Icefish. Some nests had been guarded by one fish, while others had eggs but no fish guarding.
Each nest held about 1,735 large yolky eggs, causing them to be an easy target for predators if they were unprotected.