Melting of sea ice in the summers creates algae and other microorganisms which provide food for other marine creatures. Some foods get sunk to the bottom of the sea and get eaten by seabed dwellers.
This year's maximum extent at the Arctic reached on March 7 at 14.42 million square kilometres and is 97,000 square kilometres below the previous record low.
While much of the northeastern and central United States froze to death this snowy winter, the cold chill didn't extend to the north as scientists have discovered that the winter ice levels are at record lows.
Scientists have discovered that Arctic sea ice, the ice that freezes and floats on waters in the Arctic, is thinning at much faster rate that they previously thought.