First-Ever Marine Census Shows How Little We Know

The first-ever Census of Marine Life, released this week, documents the bizarre and rich diversity of creatures that swims, scuttles, and slinks within the vast waters of the world ocean.

But more impressive than the 250,000 species captured in the pages of the report, are the estimated 750,000 to more than 1 million species that scientists assume must still be out there, undiscovered.

Forget invasions from Mars, the truth is, we've barely got a clue about the lifeforms we share our own planet with. And it's not just the rare or shy species we've been missing.

Take the beautiful red and golden copepod, Ceratonotus steiningeri, first found at about 15,000 feet in the Angola Basin in 2006. Within a year it had shown up in the southeastern Atlantic, and then the central Pacific. Scientists remain baffled at how this tiny (o.5 mm) crustacean could be so cosmopolitan, yet escape detection for so long.

Other members of the 6000 new species discovered during the decade-long project include the fuzzy-clawed yeti crab (so unique scientists had to go three branches up the tree of life to properly name it), a species of crinoid shrimp found atop a new species of marine worm, and a new kind of snail from hydrothermal vents, whose multilayered armor is unlike any natural or synthetic structure known.

Besides finding the newbies, the census also worked to document species migrations, habitat use, and simply organize the vast amounts of information about the past and present diversity of life. Through historical research, these efforts have contributed to a new baseline of knowledge of both what currently exists at sea and also how much it has changed. As big and bountiful as the oceans are, we have taken a lot out (and put in a ton of crap, too).

The vast trove of census images and videos from hundreds of expeditions with 2,700 scientists from 80 nations provide an extraordinary window into the watery realm, like none ever compiled before.  But although the work highlighted how abundant life is in the sea (one of the key findings of the report is there are no deserts in the ocean—life exists in every nook and cranny), it is important to note that there also have been tremendous losses due to overfishing, pollution, and now especially, climate change.

From the very big (Atlantic bluefin tuna are still fighting for survival) to the very small (pteropods' shells are some of the most vulnerable to ocean acidification), we affect these strange lifeforms every single day.

Take the time to explore the gallery and read about this truly remarkable effort to document the deep.  Then, funnel that sense of awe into activity by signing up to do your part to help keep healthy the one and only home these and the multitudes of yet-to-be-discovered species have ever known.

Photo credit: Stacy Blackman

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