 2008
July 15, 2008
TOPP Sea Turtle Team Publishes in PLoS
 On July 15, 2008 the TOPP Sea Turtle Team presented an analysis of the largest multi-year satellite tracking data set for leatherback turtles in the Public Library of Science's (PLoS) Biology journal. Their results suggest that the turtles' migrations are shaped by strong ocean currents, which provides a biological rationale for the development of multi-scale conservation strategies that take into account this current-induced, cross-boundary movement and potential fisheries interactions. This work will provide current management programs with directions for future efforts. For more information please visit the PLoS Biology website.
July 8, 2008
Halpin Gives Presentation on Protecting Large Pelagics
 Census researcher Dr. Pat Halpin will be giving a presentation as part of the Kathryn Fuller Science for Nature Seminar series on July 10, 2008. As the lead researcher of OBIS SeaMap and a member of the Census of Marine Life Synthesis Group, his presentation will address how new technologies are bolstering management and protection of large marine animals in the open ocean. The Science for Nature Seminar series, a monthly program hosted by the World Wildlife Fund at their Washington D.C. headquarters, aims to bring distinguished researchers together with the conservation community in a forum that encourages the dissemination and discussion of cutting edge conservation science. For more information, please visit the Science for Nature Fund page on the World Wildlife Fund website.
June 24, 2008
List of Known Species More Than Halfway to Goal
 The Census-affiliated World Register of Marine Species announced that it now contains about 122,500 validated marine species names or more than half of the estimated 230,000 marine species known to science. It anticipates completing the list by 2010. Some 55 researchers from 17 countries met in Belgium to mark the World Register's official inauguration and to plan how to reach its goal by 2010 as part of the first Census of Marine Life.
Read the Press Release
View the image gallery
June 2, 2008
The Race is on . . . again!
 Following in the wake of a last year's Great Turtle Race success, the Great Turtle Race II: The Olympiad is now underway. The race tracks eleven critically endangered Pacific leatherback turtles as they migrate from breeding grounds in Indonesia to foraging grounds out in the Pacific Ocean, or from the California coast to breeding sites in Indonesia. Organized by TOPP, the Leatherback Trust, Drexel University, The Global Cause Foundation, and the Sea Turtle Restoration project and supported and sponsored by an international assemblage of conservation groups, public agencies, and educational institutions, the Great Turtle Race II aims to educate the public about the life cycle, migrations and ecology of the leatherback sea turtle, as well as efforts to conserve this 100 million year old species. To view the race, root on your favorite turtle, learn more about leatherbacks and conservation efforts, or get involved please visit: The Great Sea Turtle Race II.
May 18, 2008
Census Explorers Discover "Brittlestar City" on Macquarie Ridge Seamount
 Millions of brittlestars were observed catching passing food in a rattling 4 km/h current by Census CenSeam researchers aboard the RV Tanagaroa on a month-long voyage to survey the Macquarie Ridge. Dubbed "Brittlestar City", its cramped inhabitants, tens of millions living arm tip to arm tip, owe their success to the seamount's shape and to the swirling circumpolar current flowing over and around it at roughly four kilometers per hour. The current allows the mass of brittlestars to capture passing food simply by raising their arms, and it sweeps away fish and other hovering would-be predators.
View images, watch video, and read about the findings on the press release page.
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New Publication by ArcOD Researchers
 ArcOD Researchers have published an article in the latest issue of the Journal Ecological Applications. As a special supplement, entitled "Arctic Marine Mammals and Climate Change", this issue is dedicated to the topic climate change and its effects on all aspects of marine mammal evolution, ecology, and conservation. ArcOD's contribution to this issue is an article entitled "Regional Variability in Food Availability for Arctic Marine Mammals". This paper explores the prey preferences of a selection of Arctic marine mammals, the distribution patterns and abundance of prey species, and how these patterns may change as climate changes. Their results suggest that new feeding grounds may open up in pelagic environments of the Arctic, while nearshore habitats may yield less food, and that ice-dependant species, such as walrus, may become disadvantaged. Results also suggest that marine mammal species that are more opportunistic feeders may actually be advantaged as sea ice regimes shift. This issue [Issue 18(2) Supplement, 2008] is available online through the Ecological Society of America: ESA Journals.
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Counting Creatures Video Released
 Videographer Richard Morris has recently released a six-minute video he produced "Counting Creatures", where he profiles the work of the Census of Marine Life.
The video is filled with outstanding imagery and a thoughtful interview of Jesse Ausubel of the Sloan Foundation. Other Richard Morris videos can be viewed at the Eclipse TV Production website.
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RV Tangaroa and CenSeam Scientists Leave for Antarctica
 Scheduled to depart Wellington on May 26, 2008, the RV Tangaroa will once again be carrying CenSeam researchers to the Antarctic. This time the target area is the Macquarie Ridge. Scientists from both New Zealand and Australia will be deploying hydrographic equipment, retrieving equipment deployed in 2007, collecting sediment samples, and surveying previously unobserved seamounts. Additionally, the researchers will be collaborating daily with the Nelson Girls School (New Zealand), doing experiments designed by the children, and posting a daily research log. For more information about the expedition and to read the daily dispatches, please visit the Macquarie Ridge page on the CenSeam website.
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Angelika Brandt to Receive Prestigious SCAR Medal
 The Executive Committee of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) has decided to honor CeDAMar scientist Angelika Brandt with the SCAR Medal for outstanding service to Antarctic research. Angelika is only the second person to receive the medal, which is awarded every two years. The award ceremony will take place during the plenary opening session of the SCAR Open Science Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia in July. Please join us in extending our congratulations to Angelika. More information about the conference and the award are available on the SCAR website.
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New Census of Marine Life Publications
 An article published in the Feb 28, 2008 issue of Nature features the work of European Census of Marine Life project EUTOPIA (European Tagging of Predators in the Atlantic). The program strives to understand the distribution, migration, and trophic interactions of marine vertebrates, including turtles, pelagic fish, sharks, birds, and mammals. The article describes the foraging activity of free-ranging predators, such as sharks and bony fishes, and the movement patterns that maximize their encounters with prey. An abstract is available online: Nature.
Also published recently was the MAR-ECO thematic issue of Marine Biology Research. Released as Volume 4, Issues 1 & 2, the issue focused on MAR-ECO's work and covered subjects such as benthic sampling methods, inventories of echinoderms, sponges, and holothurians on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and numerous descriptions of new species. The journal is available online: Informaworld
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Encyclopedia of Life Website Goes Public
 The Encyclopedia of Life has officially launched its website. Unveiling entries for its first 30,000 species, EOL was an immediate sensation and received more than 11 million hits the first day. The Encyclopedia will eventually catalog all 1.8 million known species, and is committed to having pages for the 230,000 known marine species online by October 2010. EOL is eager for visitors to their site and seeks feedback from the Census scientific community.
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Antarctic Seabed Video Reveals Fascinating New Environment
 CAML researchers returning from the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Summer have discovered a rich assemblage of seabed life and many previously unknown species. Giant crustaceans, sea-spiders the size of dinner plates, and 6 meter long jellyfish are just a few of the many curious critters that have been observed and collected by scientists aboard three research vessels collaborating on an International Polar Year project. Spectacular video footage shows a fragile and beautiful environment that, in some cases, has never been observed before. Researchers cite this recent work as a baseline from which to gauge potential future ecosystem changes, some of which may be due to global climate change. Australian Antarctic Division website..
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ChEss researchers publish in Deep-Sea Research I
 The Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE) has allowed researchers to locate, map, and photograph hydrothermal vent sites that were previously undiscovered. Described in a recent article in the journal Deep-Sea Research I (Volume 55, No. 2), researchers from ChESS and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have pioneered a method of using the autonomous vehicle to seek out hydrothermal vent plumes by pinpointing their source. ABE helps researchers characterize the site by taking photographs of the vent and surrounding area. More information is available through Science Direct.
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Census Work Featured in Recent Journals
 The recent (January 2008) issue of Deep Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, published by Elselvier, features a MAR-ECO theme. Focusing on Mid-Atlantic Ridge habitats and biodiversity, the issue contains articles discussing such topics as demersal fish populations, zooplankton distributions, methods and technologies, and trophic interactions, among others. The journal is available online at Science Direct.
POST researchers have an article in the recent edition of Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. This article describes the migration of North American Green Sturgeon, a key species monitored by POST's acoustic tracking network. The article is available online at AFS Journals.
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New Zealand IPY-CAML Voyage to the Southern Ocean
 Through February and into Mid-March 2008, the RV Tangaroa will be on a research cruise to collect marine life samples and survey the Ross Sea. A joint effort of the New Zealand government, the International Polar Year (IPY) program, and Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), the voyage will depart from Wellington for the southern reaches of the Ross Sea sampling as far east as ice conditions allow and then will continue sampling as they return on a northerly route back to Wellington. The Science Learning Hub, an initiative funded through the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science, and Technology, features an informational page on the cruise as well as educational links and activities. Follow along as the cruise progresses at
www.caml.aq and the Science Learning Hub.
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GoMA Featured on TV
 The Gulf of Maine Area program was the subject of a ten-minute feature on "Maine Watch," a public affairs program on Maine's public television station MPBN. Researchers Nicholas Wolff, Tom Trott, Kate Gaglio, and E&O coordinator Susan Ryan were interviewed about Census work in the Gulf of Maine. The program can be viewed at the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. For those pressed for time, the feature begins at the 15:30 mark.
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TIME includes Census Findings in Top 10 Scientific Discoveries for 2007
 CeDAMar's discovery of more than 700 new species of organisms in the deep Weddell Sea led the list of new species discoveries, cited by TIME magazine as fourth in its top ten scientific discoveries of 2007. New species discoveries were joined by stem cell breakthroughs, advances in human genetic mapping, and the recording of the brightest supernova, which were the top three scientific discoveries, respectively.
The full article can be read online at www.time.com.
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Oceans Past Volume Published
 HMAP researchers tell a fascinating story about the complex historical relationship between humans and the sea in a recently published volume, Oceans Past. Edited by David J. Starkey, Poul Holm and Michaela Barnard, the compendium includes eleven studies that tie together the perspectives of historians and marine scientists covering changes in marine ecosystems over time. The book highlights the influence that changes in marine ecosystems have had upon the politics, welfare and culture of human societies.
Copies are available online.
Deeper Than Light Book Published
Deeper Than Light, a book published by DESEO researchers is now also available online
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New theory of corals' ability to adapt to climate change
 A new CReefs paper, published in the leading evolutionary journal, The American Naturalist, reported on the potential for corals to evolve greater resistance to bleaching. The joint study, carried out by scientists from Queen's University in Canada and the Australian Institute of Marine Science presented a new way of examining how coral reefs may respond to climate change.
The research did not indicate that corals are safe from climate change, but rather provided a framework for assessing the potential for corals to evolve a greater ability to cope with climate-induced changes. (Photo: Bleached corals on the Keppel Islands, Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Dr Ray Berkelmans.)
PDF of the news release
(136KB)
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Census Scientists on 10-week Southern Ocean expedition
 The Antarctic research season opened with a ten-week expedition to the Lazarev Sea and the eastern part of the Weddell Sea. Census scientists from CeDAMar and CAML are part of a team of 53 scientists from eight nations aboard the German research vessel Polarstern, which is making its 24th scientific voyage to the Southern Ocean from Capetown. The scientific mission of the expedition is to improve understanding of the physical and biological processes associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Weddell Gyre, both of which play a key role in the earth's climate. Census scientists will be focused on the biodiversity of this little explored region. Regular updates on their progress will be provided here. (Photo: Polarstern in Antarctica, Atka Bay
Daily cruise reports are available in English and German.
PDF of the news release
(160KB)
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Census: One of "The 6 Most Important Experiments in the World"
 Editors of Discover Magazine cited the Census of Marine Life as one of the six most important experiments in the world in its December 2007 issue. The Census was chosen based on its potential to better protect the world's ocean resources, and through its discoveries, for the promise of developing new pharmaceuticals and industrial applications. It joined the ranks of other exciting initiatives such as a computer model that mimics the function of the human brain and a new way to manipulate genomes.
The magazine is currently available on newsstands, with the online version appearing here when fully released:
Discover-December 2007
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Census All Program Meeting and Public Forum in Auckland
 Two hundred of the world's leading marine biologists will gather in Auckland, New Zealand from 14-16 November at the All Program meeting of the Census of Marine Life. This meeting is being jointly hosted by New Zealand's National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and The University of Auckland. A Public Forum reviewing the latest Census findings will kick off All Program Meeting on Wednesday November 14. (Photo: Orange roughy swimming over a seamount. Courtesy of NIWA.)
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COMARGE Cruise Steams in Mediterranean
 The R.V. Pourquoi Pas? set sail on October 8 with the ROV Victor 6000 onboard. The Medeco cruise is crossing the Mediterranean Sea from west to east to investigate the Var Canyon off the coast of France, cold coral reefs off Italy, and mud volcanoes off Crete, Turkey and in the Nil deep-sea fan. (Photo: Pair of Geryon crabs collected from the Var Canyon. © Ifremer/Medeco 2007/ Michel Gouillou.)
Follow along as the research team reports daily http://www.ifremer.fr/medeco/english/07-10-20.htm
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New Project Websites
CeDAMar (www.cedamar.org/), TOPP (www.topp.org/), NaGISA (www.nagisa.coml.org/), and GoMA (www.usm.maine.edu/gulfofmaine-census/) have launched new websites.
Along with improved designs and layouts, many feature new pages such CeDAMar's species of the month (http://www.cedamar.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=157), TOPP's "On TOPP of the world blog,"(http://www.topp.org/blog/), GoMA's revolving slide show, and NaGISA's (http://www.nagisa.coml.org/) map that takes viewers instantly around the world. Both NaGISA and CeDAMar's sites are bilingual. (Photo: A CeDAMar image of three Emperor Penguins. Courtesy of Dr. Armin Rose.)
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ICOMM paper on microbial population structures published in Science
 Lead author ICOMM's Julie Huber explains that the dataset that served as the basis for the paper published in the October 5, 2007 Science represents the most exhaustive survey to date of microbial population structure in any single habitat. It resolves in unprecedented detail the fine-scale variation within and between microbial communities, and the extreme complexity of the rare biosphere at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Their results show that the richness and diversity of microbial communities must be considered more carefully in experimental design to properly evaluate and determine the inventory of metabolic capacity in an ecosystem. (Photo: Image of diffuse flow hydrothermal vent Marker 52 taken in 2006 by the Remotely Operated Vehicle ROPOS during the NeMO 2006 expedition to Axial Seamount. Courtesy of NOAA Vents Program, NeMO Seafloor Observatory)
For further information: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/nemo/
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Partnership to Support Australian Coral Reef Research
 A new partnership consisting of BHP Billiton, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) was launched on August 29 to support a comprehensive study of life on Australias's coral reefs, as part of the census field project CReefs. The partnership's contribution of $3.4 million over four years will allow marine scientists and taxonomists to collect and identify samples during a series of field trips to the Great Barrier Reef's Heron and Lizard Islands and Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. "We are delighted to make such an important contribution to advancing science's understanding of coral reef biodiversity and, ultimately, the preservation of our coral reefs," said Marcus Randolph of BHP Billiton. (Photo © M.O. Macnaughton)
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"New continent" and species discovered in Atlantic study
 Exploring life in the North Atlantic Ocean at various
depths of 800 to 3,500 metres, 31 scientists recently returned from a
five-week scientific expedition, which surfaced a wealth of new
information and insights, stunning images and marine life specimens,
with one species thought to be new to science. Professor Monty
Priede, director of the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab, and MAR- ECO colleague said: "It was like surveying a new continent half way
between America and Europe. We could recognize the creatures, but
familiar ones were absent and unusual ones were common. We found
species that are rare or unknown elsewhere in the world." (Photo: One of hundreds of marine specimens collected along the Mid- Atlantic Ridge. David Shale, copyright 2007.)
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Bluefin Tuna - Past and Present
 Research results from HMAP's Brian MacKenzie and the late Ransom Myers of FMAP were combined with those of TOPP's Barbara Block and her colleagues at Tag A Giant Foundation to paint an in-depth portrait of the status of Bluefin Tuna in the past and at present, made public on August 5. The past work detailed a burst of fishing from 1900 to 1950 that preceded the collapse of once abundant bluefin tuna populations off the coasts of northern Europe. The present results of modern electronic fish tagging efforts off Ireland and in the Gulf of Mexico revealed remarkable migrations and life-cycle secrets of the declining species.
(Photo: Blegvad, H. 1946. Fiskeriet i Danmark. Bind 1. Selskabet til udgivelse af kulturskrifter)
Press Release
View Video & Images
Download the Press Release as a PDF
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Census Researchers find "Gold Mine of Giant Bacteria" in eastern South Pacific
 A diverse set of strange giant filamentous, multi-cellular marine bacteria were discovered by Census researchers sampling in the eastern South Pacific. These bacteria may be "living fossils" of bacteria that developed in the earliest ocean when oxygen was either absent or much diminished, living on the toxic gas hydrogen sulfide. These findings were reported in a paper written by Victor A. Gallardo and Carola Espinoza published in the July issue of International Microbiology. The complete text of the article can be found at http://www.im.microbios.org/. (Photo: Carola Espinoza)
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Follow the RRS James Cook researchers live!
 Join Census researchers aboard the RRS James Cook as they explore the mid-Atlantic Ridge through August 19. Explorers are filing daily reports about what they are learning about this unique ecosystem at http://www.oceanlab.abdn.ac.uk/blog/. (Photo: RRS James Cook, courtesy of MAR-ECO)
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30 Years of Vent Discovery
 ChEss invited the public to help celebrate the discovery of the first hydrothermal vent with a public information session in the Galapagos Island on June 29. The session was held in conjunction with the meeting of the Census Scientific Steering Committee. Since the 1977 discovery, scientists have found 100 vent sites and roughly 550 new vent species have been discovered -- at the rate of nearly two per month. Abstracts and podcasts of the meeting and public event can be found at
http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/chess/galapagos_podcasts.php. (Photo: courtesy of Maria Baker)
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CeDAMar Research is Nature's Cover Story
In expeditions to the Weddell Sea from 2002-2005, Census researchers found unexpectedly high levels of new biodiversity, including more than 700 new species, 26 of which carnivorous sponges. Lead author of Nature's cover story (May 17, 2007), CeDAMar researcher Angelika Brandt, from the Zoological Institute and Zoological Museum, University Hamburg, suggests that the Antarctic deep sea may be the cradle of life of the global marine species. (Photo: A newly discovered isopod, courtesy of Wiebke Brokeland)
To read more:
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TOPP/CAML Expedition Reports from Antarctic Peninsula Region
 Follow along as an international team of researchers studies the foraging ecology of crabeater and southern elephant seals and the physical oceanography of the Antarctic Peninsula region. Researchers are deploying tags that will transmit information on the seals' locations and diving behaviors, as well as data on the temperature and salinity of the water as they dive.
www.ccpo.odu.edu/Research/globec/costa_april07/index.htm
or
ontoppoftheworld.blogspot.com/.
(Photo: The Seal Team)
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Deeper Than Light Opens in Paris
 Hundreds of visitors have viewed MAR-ECO's Deeper Than Light exhibit since its opening on March 26 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Patricio Bernal, Executive Director of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, officially opened the exhibit together with Walter Erdelen, the Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences and H. E. Mr Harald Neple, the Ambassador of the Norwegian Delegation to UNESCO.
Deeper than Light aims to provide visitors with an "experience" of the deep sea through paintings photography, biological specimens, and film. Paris is the first venue in 2007 for this traveling exhibit, which will move to Portugal and Germany later this year.
(Photo: courtesy of Mar-ECO)
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US National Committee Launches NOAA Lunchtime Series
 US National Committee Chair Andy Rosenberg launched an 8-week series on Monday April 16, featuring 20 CoML scientists whose presentations will webcast to all NOAA locations. All broadcasts are at 11:45 am EST and can be viewed at www.explore.noaa.gov/about/seminar.html.
(Photo: © David Shale)
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TOPP Teams with Yahoo! For Great Turtle Race
 April 16 is the launch of the Great Turtle Race, which follows 11 TOPP-tagged Leatherback turtles as they journey from their breeding grounds in Costa Rica to their feeding grounds in the Galapagos. TOPP has teamed with Yahoo!, Conservation International, the Leatherback Trust and MINAE to create this educational and fun competition to draw public attention to the endangered Leatherback and the innovative technology that allows the public to track their movements at www.greatturtlerace.com.
(Photo: Leatherback Turtle, Courtesy TOPP)
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CenSeam Goes Live!
Follow along as CenSeam's Mireille Consalvey gives daily reports from aboard the Australian Marine National Facility Research Vessel Southern Surveyor as a team of 14 scientists survey a variety of seamounts south of Tasmania: www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/voyages/0207/index.html.
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FMAP study on ecosystem impacts of shark decline reported in Science
 Fewer big sharks in the oceans are impacting bay scallops and other shellfish, according to a report in March 30th issue of the Journal Science. A team of Canadian and American ecologists, led by FMAP's fisheries biologist Ransom Myers, found that overfishing the largest predatory sharks, such as the bull, great white, dusky, and hammerhead sharks, along the US Atlantic coast, has led to an explosion of their ray, skate and small shark prey species with far-reaching consequences. Explains co-author Julia Baum of FMAP and Dalhousie, "With fewer sharks around, the species they prey upon - like cownose rays-have increased in numbers, and in turn, hordes of cownose rays dining on bay scallops, have wiped the scallops out.
The Science article was a fitting tribute to Ransom Myers, who died three days earlier of complications from brain cancer.
FMAP Press release at http://www.fmap.ca/news.php#21
(Great Hammerhead photo taken by Grant Johnson).
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Census Scientists in Special Oceanography Issue
ChEss researchers Eva Ramirez-Llodra, Chris German, Tim Shank, Chuck Fisher and Kim Juniper were contributors to the March 2007 Oceanography Special Issue on InterRidge, co-sponsored by ChEss. These authors contributed five articles covering several aspects of vent knowledge, from the vent ecosystem and the biogeography of vent species to state-of-the-art technology used to investigate these remote habitats with observatories and underwater vehicles to a discussion concerning responsible science at vents. The special issue illustrates what has been learned and investigations that have taken place since the discovery of the first hydrothermal vent, Rose Garden, off the Galapagos. Rose Garden was named for the bouquets of two-meter long tubeworms living off the low-temperature hydrothermal fluids at the first vent site.
http://www.tos.org/oceanography/issues/current.html
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Results from Global Ocean Sampling Expedition Unveiled
 A press conference with live web cast announcing the results from the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition aired on Tuesday March 13, 2007.
Census of Marine Life Chair Victor Gallardo joined J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., who circumnavigated the globe on a two-year sailing research expedition to expand understanding of mircrobial biodiversity through genomic analysis. They discovered millions of new genes and thousands of new protein families. A special edition of PloS Biology is dedicated to their results.
http://www.venterinstitute.org/research/gos/
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MAR-ECO's Project Leader Receives Prestigious EU Award
 Odd Aksel Bergstad was one of five laureates who received the EU's 2006 Descartes Prize for Science Communication at a ceremony in Brussels on March 7. Bergstad was nominated by The Norwegian Research Council for his leadership of MAR-ECO's outstanding public outreach effort since its inception in 2001. "Management of ocean systems requires both scientific knowledge and public awareness," says Bergstad. "And this has been the primary motivation for the communication efforts that have been acknowledged so overwhelmingly today."
For more information:
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CAML Expedition Reveals First Hints of Biological Change
After Collapse of Polar Ice Shelves
 Fifty-two marine explorers from 14 countries recently completed the first comprehensive biological survey of a 10,000 square kilometer portion of the Antarctic seabed during a 10-week expedition aboard the German research vessel Polarstern. They explored icy waters as deep as 850 meters off the Antarctic Peninsula - an area made suddenly accessible to exploration by the collapse of the Larsen A and B ice shelves, 12 and five years ago respectively. Among their findings were 15 potential new amphipod species, including one of the largest ever collected, four presumed new species of cnidarians, and deep-sea species at unusually shallow depths.
The voyage was one of 14 Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) expeditions planned during International Polar Year (2007-2008). Says CAML leader Michael Stoddart of Australia, "What we learned from the Polarstern expedition is the tip of an iceberg, so to speak. Insights from this and CAML's upcoming International Polar Year voyages will shed light on how climate variations affect ice-affiliated species living in this region."
Photo: A new species of Shackletonia, an amphipod crustacean sampled near Elephant Island, Antarctic Pensisula. © C. d'Udekem, Royal Belgium Institute for Natural Sciences, 2007.
Links:
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Census of Marine Life in Print
 Census scientists are having an impact in both the scientific and publishing worlds. CReefs researcher Philippe Bouchet of the French National Museum of Natural History authored a chapter in The Exploration of Marine Biodiversity, published by
Fundación BBVA (www.fbbva.es). Philippe reviews the global magnitude of marine biodiversity, including the current accelerated rate of species discovery. ChEss researchers Eva Ramirez-Llodra and David Billett also authored a chapter in this book about deep-sea ecosystems, which featured the innovative work being done by the Census' projects ChEss, COMARGE, MAR-ECO, CeDAMar and OBIS. Scientific Steering Committee member Victor Gallardo also was the author of a chapter on marine biodiversity, which is in The Biodiversity of Chile, released by the Chilean publisher Conama. http://www.conama.cl/portal/1301/channel.html
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OBIS Reaches 200 Data Sets Milestone
 OBIS China has started to publish data to the OBIS Portal, which brings the total number of data sets available through OBIS to 200! OBIS has grown phenomenally over the last year and now publishes data from literally around the globe through its 11 regional nodes. This latest increase results from the Chinese Regional OBIS Node, which is now publishing a small part of the data from the Chinese National Comprehensive Oceanographic Survey (1958-1960), mainly information on Polychaeta and Echinodermata. Almost1200 stations were sampled in the surveyed area, which covered the coast of China Seas, including the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. (Photo of Sunflower Sea Stars, Pycnopodia helianthoides courtesy of Casey Debenham).
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