10 Surreal Images of Antarctica’s Tiny ‘Sandhoppers’

Antarctica is about greater than penguins, seals, and spectacular (however disappearing) glaciers. Even the tiniest organisms on the backside of the world are fairly gorgeous.

Amphipods lack the identify recognition of different wildlife that inhabit Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. But take into account them charismatic—if barely creepy—microfauna. Without them, the Antarctic wouldn’t be what it’s. Huw Griffiths, a marine biogeographer with the British Antarctic Survey, stated there are 560 amphipod species which have been recognized in Antarctic waters, with most hanging round on the seafloor.

“Amphipod crustaceans (sometimes known as sandhoppers) are the second most diverse invertebrate group in Antarctica (after the sea snails) and are found from the beaches right down to the deepest ocean trenches,” he wrote in an e-mail. “This diversity means that they play an equally varied set of roles in the Antarctic food web, they are an important food source for higher predators such as fish, seabirds and mammals, but are also predators, grazers, and recyclers of dead and decaying material.”

Please be part of me in vibing with these little weirdos that hold the Antarctic going.