The study suggests that waves and currents have carried objects from around the southern hemisphere to Antarctica's coasts for thousands of years, but changing conditions might make colonization more likely.
If things are getting there frequently, it must be the cold waters and the icy conditions that are preventing them from actually establishing, but these conditions are changing.
Antarctic sea ice has fallen to alarming lows for three years in a row, creating a greater chance for foreign species to colonize as temperatures rise.
Floating plastic could bring ants and diseases such as bird flu, indicating that rising pollution and climate change could disrupt the delicate Antarctic ecosystem.
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