Freeze frame: how the Antarctic’s hidden jewel box of creatures was captured

Algae colonise the frozen ceiling on the underside of the sea ice. Laurent Ballesta says the light filters through it like a stained glass window. Photograph: Laurent Ballesta

Hanging from the underside of an Antarctic ice floe, a sea anemone’s delicate, glassy tentacles wave in the current. This is Edwardsiella andrillae, one of the planet’s most remarkable creatures. Unlike other sea anemones that dwell on the ocean floor, this recently discovered species thrives by embedding itself in ice – though how it penetrates the floe with its soft body or survives there remains a mystery.

The photograph, taken by Laurent Ballesta, is the first detailed image of the species and is one of a series that has won the portfolio award at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which will be unveiled this week at the Natural History Museum in London.