A74 iceberg investigation was serendipitous science

German scientists have inspected an area of seafloor newly exposed by the calving of mega-iceberg A74 and found it to be teeming with animals.

Video cameras tracked abundant filter-feeders thriving among the soft muds.

It was a remarkable opportunity for the team as their ship, RV Polarstern, threaded the still narrow gap that exists between A74 and the Brunt Ice Shelf, which produced the giant berg.

Dr Autun Purser, from the Alfred Wegener Institute, describes what was seen to the BBC's Roland Pease.

This interview was taken from the Science In Action programme on the BBC World Service.

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