“Dumbo” and Other Deep-Sea Oddities Found
Strange and bizarre deep-sea creatures from the ocean’s dark depths, previously unseen … take a look at oil-eating tubeworms and a 15-tentacled sea cucumber which are among the 5,000 deep-dwelling species identified by the Census of Marine Life, a ten-year international effort to chronicle life in the deep ocean.
In a world of total darkness, using ultra-sophisticated photography and sampling techniques, over 2,000 scientists from over 82 countries working for the Census of Marine Life mission have inventoried an astonishing diversity and distribution of marine life. Thus far, over 5,700 species have been identified thriving in a world that has never known light. Because less than 5 percent of the total global ocean has ever been explored, Census researchers discover something new each time they go into the field. Besides discovering new species, Census researchers are finding some troubling trends, for example, a decline in populations of top predators like tuna and shark and threatened habitats such as coral reefs and seamounts. Using their advanced technology, Census scientists are making many scientific firsts, such as finding the hottest hydrothermal vent and the deepest active hot vent to date, mapping the largest cold seep site in the world, recording the longest electronically-recorded migration, and investigating marine life living in some of the coldest conditions on the planet. Census scientists are tagging and tracking marine animals to gain insight to the patterns of different species’ migration routes, breeding, eating habits, behaviour and size of populations. By the time the 5 deep-sea projects of the Census of Marine Life mission wraps up next fall 2010, they will have embarked on over 200 expeditions. The results of the world’s first comprehensive Census of Marine Life will be released in London next October 2010.
“Dumbo,” Other Deep-Sea Oddities Found – Video Courtesy: Census of Marine Life.
More from the Census of Marine Life site, www.coml.org
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