Global scientific census unveils inhabitants of world’s oceans
Darah Hansen
Meet the manylight viperfish, the Everyman of the deep ocean. The
fish, a toothy critter with a rare ability to survive in unsuitable
environmental conditions, has been recorded in more than one-quarter of
the world’s marine waters, making it one of our most cosmopolitan marine
species, at least among those we know of.
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Manylight Viperfish |
That’s just one of the many findings of a newly released landmark
census aimed at answering one of humanity’s oldest questions: what lives
in the sea?
The census, which involved hundreds of scientists in more than 80
nations, and took 10 years and an estimated $650-million to complete,
has so far gathered together an inventory of 114,000 known marine
species, from the great white shark to the unassuming sea sponge.
By October, when an updated report is scheduled to be presented in
London, England, the species tally is expected to exceed 230,000, with
scientists adding new discoveries almost every day.
“We have over 5,000 things in jars that people are pretty sure are
going to be new species when they get around to looking at them, and
there are over 1,200 new species that have actually been described,”
biologist and senior scientist with the census project Ron O’Dor said.
It’s the world’s first inventory of marine species found in 25 of the
world’s key marine regions.
The goal was to lay down a baseline on which to measure future
changes to the marine environment.
“You can’t manage an ecosystem if you don’t know what’s in it,” said
O’Dor. The census sprang out of the Convention of Biodiversity in the
mid-1990s when world leaders began to take formal notice of the growing
threat to species and ecosystems caused by human activities.
American scientists were first to realize they were unable to create
a comprehensive list of what lived in the nation’s marine waters because
the information didn’t exist in an accessible format.
The National Post |
