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Creatures from deep in the Antarctic

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Brittle StarsImage source, Christian 脜slund/Greenpeace
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Have you ever wondered what creatures live deep in the sea? Well scientists have been to the Antarctic in a submarine and discovered lots of rare species. These brittle stars are just one of them.

Image source, Christian 脜slund/Greenpeace
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This one is called a polynoid polychaete worm. It's hoped that some of creatures that were found on the expedition will turn out to be completely new species which have never been seen by humans before.

Image source, Christian 脜slund/Greenpeace
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The expedition was carried out by this scientist, Dr Susanne Lockhart. She's now working with other scientists from around the world to try and indentify all the rare, and possibly new, species she discovered.

Image source, Christian 脜slund/Greenpeace
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The submarine used a robotic arm to allow specimens to be carefully collected for further investigation. This is a dropstone - a stone dropped by a glacier or iceberg - which different creatures attach to.

Image source, Christian 脜slund/Greenpeace
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This picture shows a demosponge. Dr Lockhart says it's important to learn about the species that live on the sea floor around Antarctica as it can help humans to better protect the creatures living there and the environment around it.