This year has been very eventful for marine science so far, with over 200 new deep-sea dwelling species discovered through expeditions worldwide within the past two months alone. Most notable among these expeditions are the Schmidt Ocean Institute and the Ocean Census missions, both of which reported over 100 potentially new species respectively.
The Schmidt Ocean Institute’s month-long expedition through January and February explored and surveyed numerous underwater mountains off the coasts of Chile, scanning the submerged peaks to map out underwater terrain and documenting inhabitants of the deep. Using a robot capable of diving to depths of over 4,500 meters (2.8 miles), an international team of scientists examined ten seamounts across the Nazca Ridge, the Juan Hernandez Ridge, and the Salas y Gomez Ridge. Incredibly enough, each seamount inspected by the robot appeared to host its own unique, thriving ecosystem.
The expedition unveiled a plethora of new species, including but not limited to glass sponges, deep-sea corals, sea urchins, amphipods, and squat lobsters, shedding new light on a previously virtually unknown part of the ocean. The Schmidt Ocean Institute estimates that the scientists may have discovered over 100 potentially new species.
“We far exceeded our hopes on this expedition,” said Dr. Javier Sellane, leader of the expedition and marine biology professor at the Universidad Católica del Norte. “You always expect to find new species in these remote and poorly explored areas, but the amount we found, especially for some groups like sponges, is mind-blowing.”
Exciting discoveries have also been made by the Ocean Census program, which sent out its first flagship expedition in the Southern Hemisphere in February. A team of scientists aboard a NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric) research vessel has embarked on a three-week-long expedition to Bounty Trough, a bathymetric depression that runs for 800 kilometers (500 miles) off the coast of southeastern New Zealand. Over the three-week period, the scientists collected almost 1,800 samples from as deep as 4,800 meters (3 miles) below the surface by trawling specialized nets along the seafloor. On March 10th, following the conclusion of the expedition, the Ocean Census announced the discovery of around 100 potentially new species. The variety of new species discovered came as a surprise to even the scientists involved with the expedition. “It looks like we have a great haul of new, undiscovered species,” said Alex Rogers, Ocean Census Science Director and co-leader of the expedition. “By the time all our specimens are examined, we will be north of 100 new species. But what’s really surprised me here is the fact this extends to animals like fish – we think we’ve got three new species of fish.”
Rogers’s peers have more to add: “We’ve gone to lots of different habitats and discovered a whole range of new species, from fish to snails, to corals and sea cucumbers – really interesting species that are going to be new to science,” said Sadie Mills, voyage co-leader and NIWA marine biologist.
Ocean Census has confirmed that as of now, a global team of scientists is continuing to analyze the expedition’s findings at taxonomic workshops at NIWA and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
The abundance of life flourishing in the secluded depths serves as a testament to the biodiversity of the ocean, and the sheer number of new species discovered by the expeditions in such a short time indicates, if anything, that perhaps we’ve only scratched the surface.
