Zostera marina is a seagrass species, commonly known as eelgrass, that is found on both coasts of the United States, as well as in Europe. Unfortunately, Zostera is disappearing all over the place, including right here in New York. This could have devastating impacts on animals that rely on eelgrass as foraging grounds, or, as is the case with scallops, use it as a refuge from predation. This is its story, as seen through the eyes of an aspiring graduate student...

Monday, October 4, 2010

Census of Marine Life

The results of the 10 year long study on all walks of marine life ended recently, and the results have recently been released, reports an article on CNN.com.  This "decade of discovery" was started by a Rutgers researcher and ended up using data collected from over 2700 researchers from 80 nations - quite the collaborative effort.  These scientists collected data on the smallest bacteria to the largest whales, from the frigid Antarctic to the balmy tropics and everywhere in between.  General conclusions: the oceans are much more connected and the species are much more diverse than previously thought.  And that most of the species are as yet unidentified.  You can read some research highlights here and check out many of the images from the decade long study here.

All in all, a very exciting conclusion to an epic task of trying to understand, survey, and catalog ocean life.   

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