Death-ball sponges, black corals, and zombie worms. Those are the names of some of the newly-discovered creatures lurking in the depths of the Southern Ocean. Judging by those names, you might think the ocean is more like a graveyard than an undersea habitat. But a new wildlife survey has shown that the frigid waters off the coast of Antarctica are teeming with life. The expedition used an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) submarine to study the South Sandwich Trench and below the George VI Ice Shelf. The shelf split apart in January. The project was led by the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census (NFNOC). The split in the ice shelf allowed the research team to explore a region of the ocean that had been trapped under 150 meters of ice before. Jyotika Virmani said in a press release that new ROV tools made the work possible. He's the head of the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI). He said it allowed the team "to explore and gather data from places never seen before by humans." SOI worked closely with NFNOC on the project. Among the dozens of new species found was the death-ball sponge. It's an invertebrate. It clings to rocks and seeks prey in the darkness by waving about arms topped by hook-covered spheres. The team also found new species of "zombie worms." They are called that because they have no mouths or intestines. They rely on bacteria to digest their food. In total, NFNOC detailed 30 new species. That’s a small fraction of the life that could be out there, experts say. “The Southern Ocean remains profoundly under-sampled. To date, we have only assessed under 30% of the samples collected from this expedition," Michelle Taylor said in the press release. She's the Head of Science at NFNOC. Taylor added that the fact that they have already confirmed 30 new species shows how much more could still be discovered. Reflect: What’s something that makes you feel amazed or curious about how big or mysterious the universe is? Photo of the new carnivorous death ball sponge courtesy of The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census/Schmidt Ocean Institute 2025.
