A census of the ocean

This article is more than 12 years old

This video presents some of the scientific findings of the decade-long Census of Marine Life programme

"We can only sense that in the deep and turbulent recesses of the sea are hidden mysteries far greater than any we have solved."
~ Rachel Carson, 1907-1964.

Oceans cover more than 70% of the surface of Earth, and contain a large portion of Earth's biodiversity, much of it still unknown. Further, we know more about the surface of the Moon and Mars than we know about the floor of the world's oceans. To remedy this knowledge deficit, the Census of Marine Life programme was initiated to catalogue and study the distribution, diversity and abundance of life in the oceans. The census revealed how diverse, surprising, still vastly unknown, and tenacious life is in the oceans.

In this disturbing and fascinating video, oceanographer Paul Snelgrove shares some of the results of this ten-year project. Professor Snelgrove, who compiled the data collected by this decade long marine census into a book, tells how shifting baselines have obscured our view of the loss that oceans have suffered as a result of human over-exploitation and shows us some of the amazing tools used to investigate oceanic habitats. So far, more than 6,000 potential new species have been discovered, so Dr Snelgrove shares photographs of a few of his favourite newly discovered species: