As major fishing nations gather to determine the future of the Northwest Atlantic, members of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition called upon states to implement the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) mandate for deep ocean protection.
Ninety per cent of the world’s oceans are unexplored and only a tiny 0.0001% of the biology of the deep seafloor has been investigated, but the limited studies to date of these cold, deep, dark places find many wonderful surprises. Amazing new species, colourful luminescent life, cold water coral reefs 8,500 years old – 35m high, 40km long and 3km wide. Fantastical and beautiful.
The Pacific Islands and island people are living on vulnerable environmental frontlines. “As indigenous people, we depend on biodiversity for our traditional ways of life, and are entitled to an equitable share of benefits,” said Maureen Penjueli, speaking for indigenous peoples at the SIDS Panel on Environmental Vulnerability.
“Peering through the thick glass windows of their submersible, the ocean scientists were greeted by a sight no one on Earth had ever seen before. In front of them, smoking towers of deep-sea hydrothermal vents teemed improbably with creatures, including giant tube worms and yellow mussels.
Continue reading Sink or swim for the worlds’ last great ecological frontier
