Norwegian scientists said yesterday they may have found several new species of marine life, including previously unknown fish and squids, after scouring the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean in one of the most extensive marine expeditions in history.
Researchers on the MAR-ECO expedition, which has spent two months mapping the undersea ecosystem around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the world's largest mountain range, said they found an unexpected diversity of marine life near the sea bottom, previously thought to be a largely desolate expanse.
Using highly advanced echo-sounders, robotic deep-sea vehicles and trawl nets, the expedition brought back more than 350 species of fish and squid.
At least five of those, including a deep-sea angler fish and two unusual squids, seem to be new species, they said. Many other species had never before been found near the ridge, which stretches more than 6,000km between Iceland and the Azores.
The researchers also found mysterious burrows left by an unknown animal on an undersea mountain 2,000m below the surface.
The MAR-ECO expedition, which included 60 scientists, students and technicians from 13 countries, also found rings of plankton organisms that measured 10km wide. The rings, which are produced by underwater currents, are the largest ever found, the statement said.
The Norwegian-led MAR-ECO expedition is a pilot project of the 10-year, US$1 billion Census of Marine Life project, an international research endeavor that aims to provide scientists with a better understanding of deep sea ecosystems, and explain how they change over time.
More than 300 scientists from 53 countries are involved in the census project.
"Investigations of marine life have just begun," Odd Aksel Bergstad, the lead scientist on the MAR-ECO expedition, said in a statement, "and it's only now, when we can utilize custom-built research ships and the finest modern technology, that we can learn how ecosystems in the oceans are structured and function."
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
STILL AFLOAT: Satellite images show that a Chinese ship damaged in a collision earlier this month was under repair on Hainan, but Beijing has not commented on the incident Australia, Canada and the Philippines on Wednesday deployed three warships and aircraft for drills against simulated aerial threats off a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese forces have used risky maneuvers to try to drive away Manila’s aircraft and ships. The Philippine military said the naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) were concluded safely, and it did not mention any encounter with China’s coast guard, navy or suspected militia ships, which have been closely guarding the uninhabited fishing atoll off northwestern Philippines for years. Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment on the naval drills, but they
RSS