General

17
Mar
2020

Why an Indian ocean deep sea mission will help the Maldives and Seychelles manage their oceans

Source: The Conversation
Author: Lucy Woodall

Oceans cover over 70% of our “blue” planet and are vital to its health. For instance carbon moves in and out of the ocean and can be stored there for thousands of years. Oceans are also a source of food and livelihood to millions of people, and to the economies of coastal countries. They are also the largest habitable space on the planet and house many different organisms.

But there’s a great deal that scientists still don’t know about the world’s oceans.

Continue reading Why an Indian ocean deep sea mission will help the Maldives and Seychelles manage their oceans

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12
Mar
2020

David Attenborough calls for ban on ‘devastating’ deep sea mining

Source: The Guardian
Author: Karen McVeigh

Proposed mining of seabed could destroy unstudied ecosystems and disrupt vital carbon-storing functions, says naturalist

Sir David Attenborough has urged governments to ban deep sea mining, following a study warning of “potentially disastrous” risks to the ocean’s life-support systems if it goes ahead.

The study, by Fauna and Flora International (FFI), warns proposed plans to mine the seabed could cause significant loss of biodiversity, disruption of the ocean’s “biological pump”, and the loss of microbes important for storing carbon. The process, requiring machines operating thousands of metres under the sea, could also create plumes of sediment that smother areas far from the mining sites and kill wildlife.

Continue reading here.

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29
Jan
2020

Rare ‘floating city’ deep-sea creature caught on camera by stunned scientists

Source: Mirror
Author: Michael Havis and Kelly-Ann Mills

A creature so rare that it has only a few recorded sightings across the world has been caught on camera by stunned scientists.

The benthic siphonophore, which looks like a single animal, is actually a “floating city” of many smaller organisms working together.29

Continue reading here.

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23
Jan
2020

Race to the bottom of the sea – the little known heroes of the 20th-century’s ‘inner space race’

Source: The Conversation
Author: Jon Copley

On January 23 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh climbed into an undersea craft called Trieste and dived nearly 11 kilometres to the deepest point in the ocean – the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

Continue reading Race to the bottom of the sea – the little known heroes of the 20th-century’s ‘inner space race’

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12
Dec
2019

The Protectors – Secrets of the Deep Sea

The Protectors Oceans series examines the cutting edge of science and radical thinking at work in tackling the crisis facing the world’s seas. This series reflects the passion of those at the front line of marine biology, and tells the story of the challenges we face as we explore the world’s oceans.

Watch the series here.

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12
Dec
2019

Deep-sea corals reveal why atmospheric carbon was reduced during colder time periods

Source: Stock Daily Dish

We know a lot about how carbon dioxide (CO2) levels can drive climate change, but how about the way that climate change can cause fluctuations in CO2 levels? New research from an international team of scientists reveals one of the mechanisms by which a colder climate was accompanied by depleted atmospheric CO2 during past ice ages.

Continue reading Deep-sea corals reveal why atmospheric carbon was reduced during colder time periods

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