More than 100 new marine species were just discovered
Keeping the world's oceans pure and clean is critical, especially because you never know how many inhabitants each ocean truly has. A recent expedition led divers deep into "Twilight Zone" of The Coral Triangle which can be found 150 to 500 feet under water in the western Pacific Ocean.
More specifically, The Coral Triangle includes the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Solomon Islands. While the more shallow parts of the ocean can be easily discovered, the depths of the water are harder to get to, and therefore, they are seldom explored in detail.
Steven Bedard, the senior science editor at The California Academy of sciences said:
"More people have walked on the surface of the moon, than have visited the Twilight Zone."
The skilled divers used very specific and special equipment, called "rebreathers" for this exploration. Their equipment works by recycling their breath through a process that filters out unused oxygen from the carbon dioxide in their exhalations. This equipment allowed them to spend up to 30 minutes in the depths of the ocean. In addition to the "rebreathers", the team of divers also used decompression chambers in an effort to help the marine life survived while they were being transitioned from the deep ocean to the surface.
The Coral Triangle has been known to nurture several types of marine animal populations, some of which you're probably familiar with, like tuna and sea turtles.
In the recent expedition, the team of divers found several species, including sea slugs, barnacles, urchins, and 15 live fish. Along with the discovery of new species, the researchers also came across the first-ever living examples of animals who had previously only been known to exist through their skeletons.
In the midst of the exploration, researchers discovered the first-ever living examples of animals whose existence had been known only through skeletons.
Some of the creatures that were discovered will be on view at an exhibition scheduled to open next year at The California Academy of Sciences.
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