A team of scientists from New Zealand has found that swarms of small shrimp-like sea creatures live in a domed cave under the ice shelf of Antarctica.. They live in a developed ecosystem that until recently was hidden by glaciers, according to The Guardian..

The ecosystem was discovered at a depth of 500 meters under the glacier hundreds of kilometers from the Ross Ice Shelf.

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The study sought to understand the impact of an under-glacial river mouth on climate change-driven melting of ice shelves.. But when they drilled through the ice and reached the river, their camera picked up a lot of amphipods, small creatures with the same origin as lobsters, crabs and ticks..

“For a while we thought there was something wrong with the camera, but when the focus improved, we noticed a swarm of arthropods about 5 millimeters in size,” said Craig Stevens from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmosphere (Niwa).

Although the main goal of the expedition was to study the effects of climate change, scientists said there was also an element of discovery. “We were jumping for joy because all these animals swimming around our equipment means that there is clearly an important ecosystem there,” Stevens noted..

Scientists already knew about the existence of freshwater rivers and lakes under the ice of Antarctica, but they had not yet been directly explored.. A team of researchers left instruments in an ice-bound river that will monitor how it changes over time, while samples being studied in the lab will show what makes this river unique..

The team began research a few days before the powerful eruption of the Tongan volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai. The team's instruments recorded a significant change in pressure as the tsunami forced its way through the cavity..

Stevens notes that this reminded scientists of how interconnected everything on our planet is..

Scientists have previously discovered a giant circulating groundwater system deep under the ice of West Antarctica.. Systems like these could reveal how the icy continent is responding to, or even participating in, climate change..