Expeditions to the depths of the oceans have revealed strange dark worlds bristling with species new to science – now the race is on to discover them.
If the Earth's oceans were the size of the island of Manhattan, then oceanographer and deep-sea explorer Edith Widder estimates that we've explored the equivalent of perhaps one block – but only at first-floor level.
Oceans make up roughly 99.5% of the planet's habitats by volume, and within those largely unexplored depths there are thought to be scores of large marine animals unknown to science. When you consider smaller animals too, the number of unknown species rises to the millions.
From 13m-long (43ft) voracious carnivorous squid, to scuttling Yeti crabs huddling near hydrothermal vents, to tusked whales dwelling thousands of feet down to avoid predatory orcas, sizeable marine animals new to science are still being documented every year.
The race to try to find the remaining species is growing urgent. As deep-sea mining threatens to encroach on previously untouched seafloor habitats and climate change warms and acidifies the seas, the ocean's ecosystems are on the brink of profound change. But with new methods of ocean exploration, we are getting closer than ever to discovering more of the ocean's giants.
The unknown giants of the deep oceans
If the Earth's oceans were the size of the island of Manhattan, then oceanographer and deep-sea explorer Edith Widder estimates that we've explored the equivalent of perhaps one block – but only at first-floor level.
Oceans make up roughly 99.5% of the planet's habitats by volume, and within those largely unexplored depths there are thought to be scores of large marine animals unknown to science. When you consider smaller animals too, the number of unknown species rises to the millions.
From 13m-long (43ft) voracious carnivorous squid, to scuttling Yeti crabs huddling near hydrothermal vents, to tusked whales dwelling thousands of feet down to avoid predatory orcas, sizeable marine animals new to science are still being documented every year.
The race to try to find the remaining species is growing urgent. As deep-sea mining threatens to encroach on previously untouched seafloor habitats and climate change warms and acidifies the seas, the ocean's ecosystems are on the brink of profound change. But with new methods of ocean exploration, we are getting closer than ever to discovering more of the ocean's giants.
The unknown giants of the deep oceans