Stunning Time-Lapse Video Captures Salt Water 'Icicles of Death'

When sea ice forms on the surface of salty bodies of water, it leaves behind a brine that is so salty, it sinks -- fast. As this happens, the sea water around it freezes instantly, according to BBC, forming what's called a "brinicle", or "icicle of death."

Check out this time-lapsed video -- the first ever -- of brinicle formation:

BBC has more on this phenomenon filmed by cameramen Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson:

Mr Miller set up the rig of timelapse equipment to capture the growing brinicle under the ice at Little Razorback Island, near Antarctica's Ross Archipelago.

"When we were exploring around that island we came across an area where there had been three or four [brinicles] previously and there was one actually happening," Mr Miller told BBC Nature.

The diving specialists noted the temperature and returned to the area as soon as the same conditions were repeated.

"It was a bit of a race against time because no-one really knew how fast they formed," said Mr Miller.

"The one we'd seen a week before was getting longer in front of our eyes... the whole thing only took five, six hours."

The crew said the water was about -2C and that it had to contend with wildlife, like seals knocking over forming brincles and equipment, to capture this footage.

[H/T Business Insider]