By Stephen Beech

An underwater robot called Lassie has discovered “remarkable” icefish nests while searching for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship, The Endurance.

Scientists uncovered a “new and unusual” phenomenon – extensively maintained fish nesting grounds arranged in patterns – in a remote part of Antarctica’s Western Weddell Sea, an area once hidden beneath a 200-metre thick ice shelf.

When the A68 iceberg, measuring 5,800 square kilometers, calved from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in 2017, it opened new access for research.

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) exploring the seafloor revealed more than 1,000 circular nests, each cleared of the layer of plankton that blanketed surrounding areas.

The nests were not randomly scattered, but instead were organised into “distinct” patterns – f

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