Mesmerizing Sea Life

Countless marine animals rely on noise to survive, for e.g: to detect predators, for echolocation, and as a means of communication with the co-species. In recent decades, the sounds caused by human activities are affecting marine species, especially the sounds emitted by cargo ships, loud explosions, and seismic surveys. A study by the Alfred-Wegener institute showcases that the sounds may impact the functioning of the ocean floor. Invertebrates such as mussels, crustaceans, and worms(referred to as ecosystem engineers) frequently sediment the area they live in by burrowing, feeding, aerating, and fertilizing with their excreta. These activities play a vital role in the nutrient cycle in the ocean, allowing more carbon from the dead organic material to be stored on the sea floor and nutrients to be recycled.  Sound can travel long distances underwater, sometimes hundreds and even thousands of kilometers whereas light can travel only tens of meters.  A research team from the Al...

Natural History Museum unlocked 30 new species living at the bottom of the sea. Using a remotely operated vehicle collected specimens from the abyssal plains of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Central Pacific. Previously, creatures from this area had been studied only through photographs.  What surprises is out of 55 specimens recovered, 48 of them were new. The animals include segmented worms, invertebrates from the same family as centipedes, marine animals from the same family as jellyfish, and different types of coral. 17 were found at between 3,095 and 3,562 meters deep, two were collected on a seamount slope at 4,125 meters, and Thirty-six specimens were found at more than 4,800 meters deep. Dr. Guadalupe Bribiesca-Contreras, of the Natural History Museum, the study’s lead author said “the research is important not only due to the number of potentially new species discovered but because these megafauna specimens have previously only been studied from seabed images and added...