It always surprises me when I hear that as much as 80 percent of the earth's oceans still remain unexplored. It makes me wonder, what on earth is out there that we aren't able to see? What kind of creatures live at the depths of the ocean floor that we as humans can't physically access?
Well, with the development of a new video camera that can withstand the extreme depths necessary to see these unknown creatures, scientists have made a little bit of progress in finding a few new species:
Snailfish
One particular group of scientists made a journey to the Atacama Trench, which is located on South Africa's west coast. The scientists went there to search for a snailfish that had previously been photographed by fellow scientist Alan Jamieson. The snailfish was known to live between 7,000 and 8,200 meters. With this in mind, the group sent their camera down to a depth just past 8,000 meters. When reviewing the footage, it was found that the snailfish they had been looking for did indeed exist.
But that wasn't all. These scientists ended up finding two other species of snailfish that had never been seen before. The group was elated to return home with better results than they could have hoped for.
You're right, this does sound a little boring.
Now I know what you're thinking: "snailfish don't exactly sound very interesting." And you're right. They don't. But it's not the actual species discovery that's important here, although the snailfish species they discovered are pretty cool looking. It's the conclusions scientists were able to come to based on these discoveries that are important.
Upon discovering these three completely different species of snailfish, the scientists were able to figure out some of the ways in which deep-sea trenches support marine life. The evidence these scientists have collected of multiple species thriving in the same exact environment supports the theory that different species of an animal that lead different lifestyles can still live amongst each other in the same environment. In other words, there are different adaptations that can allow for species to survive harsh conditions such as the ones these snailfish live in.
The Bigger Picture:
It's little discoveries like these that lead to more and even bigger scientific revolutions. Based on what the scientists from the expedition found, we know more than we did before about marine life and how their habitats affect them. Personally, I can't wait to see what we discover next, even if it is just another little snailfish.
