Global census finds 5,000 marine species

Victoria Gill BBC News 19 Feb 10;

A preview of the Census of Marine Life has revealed that the project has discovered over 5,000 new species.

These include bizarre and colourful creatures, as well as many organisms that produce therapeutic chemicals.

A panel of scientists presented these early insights at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Diego.

The final report from the decade-long census will be released in October 2010.

The project has involved more than 2,000 scientists from 80 countries, and the researchers involved believe the census will lay the scientific foundations for marine policies to protect vulnerable habitats.

The researchers presented images of some of the most striking species discovered in the last decade, including a crab so unusual it warranted a whole new family designation. This member of the new Kiwaidae family of crabs, discovered near Easter Island, was named Kiwa hirsuta because of its furry appearance.

One member of the panel, Shirley Pomponi, a scientist from Florida Atlantic University, highlighted a new species of sponge.

This was found in the Florida Keys in August of 1999. Further investigation revealed that it produced a chemical with anti-cancer properties, which is now being investigated as a potential therapeutic.

Dr Pomponi said: "Adaptation to life in the sea has resulted in the production of chemicals that not even the most advanced computer program could produce.

"Mother nature still makes the best chemicals."

Bulldozing reefs

A major aim of the census is to provide the scientific support for the establishment of a global network of marine protected areas to prevent damage from fishing and other human activity.

Dr Jason Hall-Spencer, a marine biologist from the UK's University of Plymouth, said that delicate coral reefs were under threat from deep-sea trawling.

"All but one of the reefs I've looked at has been very badly damaged by bottom trawling - where a fishing net is dragged along the sea floor," he said.

"Bottom trawling bulldozes through reef habitats that are thousands of years old.

"But the good news is that we now have the data to change policy and work with fishermen to say where marine protected areas should be."

Marine Census Grows Near Completion
Researchers near completion of ocean census, cite value of protecting marine life
Randolp E. Schmid Associated Press ABC News 18 Feb 10;

From pole to pole, surface to frigid depths, researchers have discovered thousands of new ocean creatures in a decade-long effort now nearing completion, and there may still be several times more strange creatures to be found, leaders of the Census of Marine Life reported Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The effort has "given us a much clearer window into marine life," said Shirley Pomponi, executive director of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University in Fort Pierce.

The research, which has involved thousands of scientists from around the world, got under way in 2000 and the final report is scheduled to be released in London on Oct. 4.

Last fall the census reported having added 5,600 new ocean species to those already known. Ron O'Dor, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, said there may be another 100,000 or more to be found. "Add microbes and it could be millions," he said.

One benefit of learning more about ocean life is the chance of finding new medical treatments, Pomponi said.

For example, a chemical discovered in deep water sponges is now a component of the cream used to treat herpes infections, Pomponi said. Other research is under way on pain killers and cancer treatments based on ocean life.

Kristina Gjerde, of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, in Konstancin-Chylice, Poland, said the research will help guide governments in setting up marine protected areas to preserve species both for food and of value for other reasons.

O'Dor said the ocean is large and resilient, so that when a region is protected life there can rebound, "but we can't keep insulting the ocean."

O'Dor noted that many people are concerned about the decline of tigers in the wild, and said the same may be true of great white sharks.

Noting a marine census project that places sonar trackers on fish and marine mammals, O'Dor pointed to an Australian program that senses those trackers and warns people ashore when to close a beach because a shark is nearby.



Deep-sea trawling is destroying coral reefs and pristine marine habitats
A survey of the world's reefs and submerged mountains has revealed widespread damage from deep-sea trawling
Ian Sample, guardian.co.uk 18 Feb 10;

Deep-sea trawling is devastating corals and pristine marine habitats that have gone untouched since the last ice age, a leading marine biologist has warned.

A survey of the world's reefs and seamounts – giant submerged mountains that rise more than a kilometre above the seabed – has revealed widespread damage to the ecosystems, many of which are home to species unknown to science, said Jason Hall-Spencer at Plymouth University in the UK.

Hall-Spencer, a researcher involved with the Census of Marine Life, a worldwide project to catalogue life in the oceans, called for the establishment of an international network of marine reserves where deep-sea trawling was banned.

Deep-sea trawlers use giant, heavy-duty nets that are dragged over the seafloor at depths of more than a kilometre. The nets are fitted with rubber rollers called "rock hoppers", which destroy the corals that provide habitats for fish and other marine organisms.

The technique was developed for use in shallow waters with smooth sea floors, but as fish stocks dwindled and technology improved, fishing fleets began using the nets in much deeper waters.

Hall-Spencer said marine biologists have surveyed fewer than 1% of an estimated 50,000 seamounts in the world's oceans.

"Our research visits have revealed pristine coral reefs and many species that are brand new to science," Hall-Spencer said. "Over the past five years, these surveys have also worryingly revealed that all over the world, deep-sea habitats are suffering severe impacts from bottom trawling.

"It doesn't matter what ocean you go to, these habitats are being trashed by international fishing fleets. What is urgently needed is a network of protected areas where any type of fishing gear that involves dragging equipment across the sea bed is banned."

Each trawler typically crisscrosses an area of ocean around 33 kilometres square. Among the most threatened sites are cold water coral reefs in temperate regions, which are still being discovered. Sizeable areas off the west coasts of Scotland and Ireland have been severely damaged, Hall-Spencer told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego today.

"I've seen areas that are pristine and untouched since the ice age and these are worth protecting," he said. "The coral is white or bright orange, and there are fans as high as your chest. These are particularly vulnerable to trawling. Unlike shallow water reefs, they don't have to be strong enough to withstand large waves and they can't cope."

The Norwegian government has banned deep-sea trawling over the Røst reef, the biggest cold-water reef in the world, which was only discovered in 2002. The three kilometre-wide strip is teeming with life and stretches for almost 40 kilometres at a depth of 450 metres. Similar bans are in place at a number of other sites around the world, but more are needed, Hall-Spencer said.

Related link
Census of Marine Life website with latest results and an image gallery