Sampling the Abyss: Australian expedition finds strange marine life from deep ocean - TomoNews
- 7 years ago
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA — Australian scientists have discovered a “faceless” deep-sea fish in the deep abyss off Australia’s east coast during a month-long expedition.
The Sampling the Abyss expedition, led by scientists from Museums Victoria and the Australian government’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) begins from Bell Bay, Tasmania and ends in Brisbane.
“Abyssal animals have been around for at least 40 million years but until recently only a handful of samples has been collected from Australia’s abyss,” Dr. Tim O’Hara from Museums Victoria, chief Scientist of the expedition, said in a blog entry.
The research team is on board the Investigator research vessel, which is is equipped with multibeam sonar that can map the structure of the seafloor.The expedition surveys the abyssal level up to 6,000 meters deep in the ocean. Sleds, dredges and grabbers are deployed in order to collect samples of animals and sediment.
The Sampling the Abyss expedition, led by scientists from Museums Victoria and the Australian government’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) begins from Bell Bay, Tasmania and ends in Brisbane.
“Abyssal animals have been around for at least 40 million years but until recently only a handful of samples has been collected from Australia’s abyss,” Dr. Tim O’Hara from Museums Victoria, chief Scientist of the expedition, said in a blog entry.
The research team is on board the Investigator research vessel, which is is equipped with multibeam sonar that can map the structure of the seafloor.The expedition surveys the abyssal level up to 6,000 meters deep in the ocean. Sleds, dredges and grabbers are deployed in order to collect samples of animals and sediment.