We changed our expedition plan so we could look at what was happening in the depths below,' said expedition co-chief scientist Patricia Esquete.

In January 2025, researchers on the Schmidt Ocean Institute's R/V Falkor (too) had to divert their plans after an iceberg roughly the size of Chicago broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf, a floating glacier that had been attached to the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet.

As the iceberg broke away from a glacier in early 2025, it opened a window into an ancient, untouched world beneath the ice.