• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Sinister footage of rare ‘ice finger of death’ that kills everything it touches leaves viewers horrified

Home> Science

Updated 14:58 18 Sep 2024 GMT+1Published 14:59 18 Sep 2024 GMT+1

Sinister footage of rare ‘ice finger of death’ that kills everything it touches leaves viewers horrified

The jaw-dropping phenomenon was previously captured on camera by BBC explorers

Ella Scott

Ella Scott

Featured Image Credit: BBC
Earth
Science
World News
Climate change

Advert

Advert

Advert

Did you know a deadly phenomenon takes place in the waters of the Arctic Ocean that proves fatal to everything that gets caught in its path?

Covering a whopping 14.06 million km² area, the Arctic Ocean is categorized as the smallest of the world’s five oceanic divisions but still plays host to a great, thriving marine ecosystem.

Below the surface of the rippling waters, explorers may come across spectacular coral reefs, Greenland Sharks that live up to 400 years and Narwhals — sometimes dubbed the ‘Unicorns of the Sea’.

Advert

Brinicles are sometimes referred to as 'icy fingers of death (BBC)
Brinicles are sometimes referred to as 'icy fingers of death (BBC)

Meanwhile, previously captured footage has documented less mobile creatures such as starfish and anemones also residing under the sea ice.

Unfortunately, not only do these deep sea dwellers have to fend off predators, but from time to time they meet their fate due to being caught up in an ‘ice finger of death’.

This so-called icy finger is more commonly referred to by scientists as a brinicle or a brine icicle.

As seawater freezes, impurities like salt brine concentrates are expelled, thus creating a downward flow of saline water.

Advert

It’s understood that this brine is heavier and colder than the water around it, thus beginning to sink into the ocean at a rapid pace.

As the brine barrels further down, it continues to pull in frozen water around it, creating a thick, descending column of ice

Sometimes these channels can hit the sea floor and its icy tendrils will continue to spread out and freeze anything in its path.

It’s understood brinicles can grow up to several metres per day, with a study in the Journal of Glaciology previously recording one icy finger expanding to six metres.

Advert

While reports on this icy finger stretch back to the 1960s, it wasn’t until 2011 that the method was caught on film.

The footage was shown in the BBC’s Blue Planet II series, narrated by British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and repurposed for 2016’s Earth’s Great Seasons.

Exploring the brinicle in the latter BBC docuseries, actor Andrew Scott described it as a ‘stealthy finger of death’.

One video viewer claimed the brinicle was something out of a 'sci-fi film' (BBC)
One video viewer claimed the brinicle was something out of a 'sci-fi film' (BBC)

Advert

“A river of ice imprisons everything in its path. Even those that think they’ve beaten the extremes of winter can get caught out.”

After watching the chilling footage, one YouTube user wrote: “That is the most sinister-looking piece of ice I have ever seen.”

A second commented: “The way that ice tornado came in sending the animals scrambling for their lives was superbly captured. Shows the same world of fear and survival like our own even if it’s on a much slower timescale to ours.”

“This looked like a scene from a sci-fi/horror film. High praise for the people who filmed this awesome, and slightly horrific, video,” said someone else.

Advert

As time goes on, scientists are set to learn more about the icy ‘fingers of death’ but for now, I’m sure we can all agree they seem absolutely petrifying.

Choose your content:

2 days ago
  • 2 days ago

    Scientists identify source of eerie ocean rings used as a 'communication' signal from non-humans

    This could change everything

    Science
  • 2 days ago

    Shocking study reveals exactly how quickly humanity would go extinct if we stopped having children

    Humanity could be plunged into chaos quicker than you might think

    Science
  • 2 days ago

    Doctor issues warning over simple supplement dubbed 'nature's Ozempic'

    Opting for 'natural Ozempic' might not be as good as it seems

    Science
  • 2 days ago

    Scientists discover groundbreaking new evidence that the Big Bang theory is wrong

    A team of researchers have come up with the new Black Hole Universe theory

    Science
  • Researcher reveals controversial plan to detonate a nuclear bomb at the bottom of the ocean to save the world
  • Heartbreaking world-first footage of Antarctic sea floor shows how ship anchors and destroying once-pristine ecosystem
  • Antarctica ice melt could cause more than 100 hidden volcanos to soon erupt
  • Insane ‘boil in a bag’ funerals that flushes bodies down the drain could be approved in country of 68,000,000 people