Yay! Finally some good, happy, environmental news.
A team of researchers from Australia and the United States have uncovered new marine life, including fiery red coral and purple-spotted sea anemones, in deep waters off the Australian state of Tasmania, according to findings released Sunday.
Scientists who took part in the $2 million four-week expedition also found that most reef-forming coral deeper than 4,200 feet (1,300 meters) in the area were newly dead. Researchers will study samples of the coral to try and determine whether the creatures are dying because of ocean warming, disease, a rise in ocean acidity or some other reason.
The team also found communities of marine life that have never been described in scientific literature, including gooseneck barnacles and millions of round, purple-spotted sea anemones.
The photo you see in this post shows tethered to the seafloor 13,143 feet (4,006 meters) underwater, the 20-inch (50-centimeter) sea squirt, or ascidian, it is one of the deepest-dwelling animals ever found in Australia.
Scientists also discovered corals more than 10,000 years old and will study them for clues on ancient climate data, and to help determine when coral reefs have existed south of Tasmania over the last several million years.
"Given we probably know more about deep space than we know about the deep sea, these are incredibly exciting results," marine biologist Ghislaine Llewellyn, program manager of the Oceans division at the World Wildlife Fund in Australia, said in an e-mail. "Australia has its own underwater grand canyon on its doorstep and these submersible dives have opened a window on the secrets of this place and its creatures."
- Photograph courtesy Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory WHOI
