Scientists Rush to Identify New Species in Melting Arctic
Global Warming Could Render Sea Life Extinct as Polar Ice Recedes
The Arctic Circle is experiencing its warmest summer on record. As more sea ice vanishes, scientists are racing to discover new species -- which teem in the unknown world just below the ice -- before they are gone forever.
According to some scientific scenarios, all the polar ice could be gone before the end of the century, decimating the sea life that depends on it.
So the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy is ushering scientists about 110 miles off shore to discover what exists beneath the thinning ice before it disappears.
They found hundreds of creatures, many never seen before, including several species of multi-colored jelly fish. But they may not be in existence for long.
"This is their habitat," said Katrin Iken, a marine biologist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. "If there is no ice anymore, then they have nowhere to go and they probably wouldn't survive as a species."
Around the ship and across this ocean, the sea-ice keeps melting.
"The magnitude of change -- that is really worrying us. We are so excited to study a new environment because we realize how urgent it is that it's done now," said Rolf R. Gradinger, chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's "Hidden Ocean" expeditions.
These scientists plan to return to the spot in five years. They -- and many scientists who study global warming -- are not sure they'll find these creatures when they return.
ABC News' Bill Blakemore filed this report for "World News Tonight."
