Ice melt

In spring and summer when air and water temperatures increase, the sea ice begins to melt and floes break apart. The area of sea ice in the Antarctic which melts away in summer is about 14 Million square kilometers large. As the ice retreats many of the organisms which increased their numbers and proliferated within the ice are released back into the water. Here they may either remain drifting in the water column and continue to thrive, providing the inoculum for new phytoplankton growth and ensuring the production of offspring which will again enter the ice in the winter to come and close the annual cycle. However, many which did not survive in the ice, but where retained frozen, will sink to the ocean floor. The open water zone at the ice edge teems with life in summer and many fish, birds, seals and whales come here to feed. Young penguins and seals which were born on the sea ice will have grown up and are ready to enter the water to begin a life on their own.