A dropstone specimen collected from a submarine dive off Brabant Island (Gerlache Strait, Antarctic Peninsula) at around 420 m. Stones dropped by glaciers and icebergs – termed dropstones – provide a hard substrate for organisms to attach to. Attached to this dropstone are a variety of bryozoan and hydroid species, bottle-brush primnoid corals (Thourella sp.), hexactinellid glass sponges and yellow colonial ascidians.

Greenpeace is conducting scientific research and documenting the Antarctic’s unique wildlife, to strengthen the proposal to create the largest protected area on the planet, an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary.