After gazing deep into the sea, scientists are finding creatures more mysterious than many could have imagined. A census of the world’s oceans has made a host of new discoveries, stretching the frontiers of humankind’s marine knowledge. An ambitious attempt to draw up a census of life beneath the waves has revealed a clutch of exotic species and a shoal of fish which is the size of Manhattan island.
A ‘Jurassic shrimp’ thought to have gone extinct 50 million years ago has been found in Australian waters, The scientists also found marine creatures thriving by a record hot volcanic vent in the Atlantic and in dark waters under thick Antarctic ice. We surely know that some microbes could live at such high temperatures but these are relatively big animals. At this point, it really is a mystery that how they are able to survive such high temperatures.
The findings are in stark contrast to a string of bleak scientific reports that have projected the virtual disappearance of all major commercial fish species in a matter of decades if fishing practices aren’t changed. They found that habitat destruction had depleted 90 per cent of important species, and eliminated 65 per cent of sea grass and wetland habitats, as well as degrading water quality substantially. The recent report also found that oceans are being stripped of the rich diversity of life that is thought to make marine ecosystems around the world so productive.
Historically there was a belief that the deep ocean was a kind of desert and that was fundamentally based on an impression primarily on a lack of technology.
One of the clearest messages to emerge from the latest study is that there are no deserts in the ocean. Everywhere we look, we find evidence of life. Each census expedition reveals new marvels of the ocean, and with the return of each vessel it is increasingly clear that many more discoveries await marine explorers. The current census is due for completion in 2010.
A Sloan Foundation scientist puts it right that: Sea animals find ways
“to make a living just about everywhere.’
Via: Independent
