Identifying 100,000 unknown species in the next ten years: that’s the ambition of the “Census of the Oceans” launched on Thursday 27 April. “Our knowledge of the depths of the ocean is very sparse. Explain CNN Citing the organizers of this census. Of the 2.2 million species believed to exist in the oceans, only 240,000 have been described by scientists.
firm, Accurate National, a team led by British and Japanese scientists will send divers, submarines and robots to explore the depths. Dozens of expeditions involving public and private research vessels will be set up. new tools, “Such as underwater scanners capable of scanning gelatinous organisms such as jellyfish that are difficult to read on land.” Accumulated, note CNN. “The new species discovered will be sent to laboratories around the world, specifically to have their DNA sequenced,” Adds National.
This is not the first time such an operation has been carried out. A “Census of Marine Life”, Completed in 2010, 6,000 new species were identified CNN. But scientists are worried about climate change and ocean pollution taking this new initiative “Race Against Time”, In the words of Yohei Sasagawa of the Nippon Foundation, one of the funders of the census, Quoted MaritimePartner in the process.
“A Race Against Time to Find Marine Life Before It’s Lost to Future Generations.”
For this special issue, “The ocean census comes at the right time as last year’s Montreal Biodiversity Conference decided to protect 30% of our land and oceans by 2030.”. A United Nations treaty adopted in March now provides the legal framework for creating protected areas on the high seas. NationalOnly 8% of marine areas are protected.
