We Hardly Know Anything About Deep-Sea Life, And Our Ignorance Is Damaging It

[Judi Lynn]

There's been hardly any research into most residents of the deep oceans, despite it being the biggest habitat on Earth – and it's making them harder to protect, according to a new review.

Posted on August 21, 2017, at 5:01 p.m.
Tom Chivers

A shocking lack of research into deep-sea creatures is hindering efforts to protect marine ecosystems, according to a new review.



A juvenile bobtail squid, 1,200 metres below the surface of the ocean, off the west coast of Scotland.
University of Plymouth / University of Oxford


The review, published in the journal Molecular Ecology and carried out by scientists at the University of Oxford, found that only 77 studies, looking at just 115 species, have ever been carried out into the genetics of invertebrate species – animals with no backbone, such as squid, coral, or crabs – below 200 metres.

And just nine studies have been carried out into the genetics of invertebrates which live below 3,500 metres deep. Seas of that depth or greater make up more than half of the world's surface.

"It's a thorough and comprehensive review, carefully carried out," Dr Jonathan Copley, a marine biologist at the University of Southampton who was not involved in the research, told BuzzFeed News. "And it's timely – the last similar-scale review was back in the late 1990s."

What research there is shows that while species can be extremely similar across hundreds or thousands of miles of ocean, even a few hundred metres' difference in depth can totally change things.

More:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomchivers/look-at-the-little-octopus?utm_term=.odo2PrOKV#.fwppqXNVP

[gtar100]

1. Trash... Out of sight, out of mind.

But not out of reality. I'm guessing that our great destiny is to be a thin layer of rock filled with the weirdest of minerals. I can only wonder what our extreme waste will end up like in a million years after the last plastic bag has been tossed to the ground. Too bad we don't have the will to stop using up all our resources. Tell me again how much we love our children.

[democratisphere]

2. Humans continue to poison their own well even with the knowledge

we are self destructing and taking down every other species and all of our different environments. Reminds me of a song by Bill Withers: "Use me".

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Yay! Stubby squid! Ocean's cutest critters. :)

DUgle it sometime ...