Researchers discover fish living under a half-mile of Antarctic ice

And you thought your home got chilly in the winter.

Researchers have discovered fish and other invertebrates living deep below Antarctic ice sheets, NBC News reports.

(Image credit: Facebook.com/WISSARD)

Scientists with the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling — or delightful acronym WISSARD — discovered the fish earlier this month while exploring Antarctica's western "grounding zone." Land, ice, and sea all converge at this area of the continent; the researchers are the first to drill below the Ross Ice Shelf and actually sample the grounding zone.

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The researchers said they will study further how the fish are able to survive in such extreme conditions — the discovery marks the closest to the South Pole that marine life has been found.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.