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Canwest News Service
Nearly 18,00 different ocean species have never known sunlight and yet survive in a frigid, black world, according to preliminary finds of an international census of marine life. But researchers say the biodiversity of the deep ocean is threatened by overfishing and climate change. The census, performed over 10 years with the collaboration of more than 80 countries, seeks to explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of ocean life — which includes anything from microbes to whales. Preliminary findings of the census, which will be released in full in October 2010, have recorded 17,650 different species that live below an ocean depth of 200 metres — the point at which photosynthesis stops. Taking stock of these creatures, which include fish, sea cucumbers and coral, is a complex but essential endeavour, said Bob Carney, a professor of oceanography.
