Rare Creatures Discovered During 31-Day Voyage Off Australia
/ CBS Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A team of scientists have returned from a deep sea excursion off Australia, uncovering creatures like: the giant anemone-sucking sea spiders, flesh-eating crustaceans and zombie worms.
Called Sampling the Abyss, the 31-day voyage on the Marine National Facility research vessel Investigator brings together scientists from Museums Victoria, CSIRO and other Australian and international museums and research agencies.
The team of 58 scientists explored the mysterious life that inhabits the abyss off eastern Australia – an almost unexplored habitat 4,000 meters below the surface.
"Australia's deep-sea environment is larger in size than the mainland, and until now, almost nothing was known about life on the abyssal plain. We're really excited about the discoveries that we've made and are thrilled that we can now share them with the Australian and international public," said Dr Tim O'Hara, the voyage's Chief Scientist and Museums Victoria's Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates.
Scientists say more than one third of the spineless critters and some of the fishes found during this voyage are completely new to science.
Officials say the voyage also sought to investigate pollution found on the sea floor, and other human impacts such as microplastics in surface waters.
"We have found highly concerning levels of rubbish on the seafloor. We're 100 kilometres off Australia's coast, and have found PVC pipes, cans of paints, bottles, beer cans, woodchips, and other debris from the days when steamships plied our waters. The seafloor has 200 years of rubbish on it. Hopefully information such as this is the first step in influencing social attitudes towards rubbish disposal," said Dr Tim O'Hara.
A selection of these extraordinary marine creatures will go on display at Melbourne Museum in the coming months.
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