Experts Made A Historic Marine Discovery, And Its Colossal Height Dwarfs The Empire State Building

Word of these 30 creatures new to science came out in April, but that was just the beginning. A few months later, the Schmidt Ocean Institute was again announcing news from the Falkor. Scientists carried by the vessel had come across yet more exotic and never-before-seen species.

Generally speaking, though, for all our advances as a species, we know remarkably little about the oceans of Earth. Astronomers have managed to capture an image of black hole in space, we’ve sent manmade vehicles to Mars, and individuals have personally walked along the surface of the Moon – yet our own waters clearly retain many secrets. But thanks to groups such as the Schmidt Ocean Institute, we’re now starting to learn more.

New technologies are helping us to explore the depths of the ocean. From the Falkor, for instance, researchers are able to launch underwater robots to do the tough work. These machines are essential for deep-sea exploration, as they can handle the intensely frigid, pitch-black conditions of the seafloor, where all but the hardiest of venturers are crushed to a pulp by the sheer weight of the volume of water above them.

The past year has demonstrated the power of technology and how it can be applied to underwater exploration. This has delighted Wendy Schmidt, who established the Schmidt Ocean Institute alongside her spouse Eric. Speaking in a statement following Dr. Beaman’s vast discovery, she reflected on what the latest technological advances mean for our understanding of the seas.

Schmidt remarked, “The state of our knowledge about what’s in the ocean has long been so limited. Thanks to new technologies that work as our eyes, ears and hands in the deep ocean, we have the capacity to explore like never before. New oceanscapes are opening to us, revealing the ecosystems and diverse life forms that share the planet with us.”

Understanding our ocean ecosystems is perhaps a more pressing matter today than ever before in our history as a species. Back in March 2020 the World Meteorological Office published a report entitled Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019. Noting that 2019 had been the second-hottest year since records began, this report dedicated an entire section to the planet’s ocean.

The report stated that 2019 was a year of unusually high temperatures in the world’s oceans. Globally, vast swathes of the planet’s waters suffered a “marine heatwave,” with almost two months of the year considered to be unusually warm. The upper layer of the ocean was particularly heated throughout 2019, at times breaking previous records.

The issue with all this is that increasing temperatures in the ocean significantly affect the Earth as a whole. The wider climate of the planet is impacted, not least because the water expands as it heats up, causing sea levels to surge in height as a result. What’s more, ocean ecosystems experience some striking shifts thanks to the rising temperatures, which can lead to extremely negative outcomes for some organisms within them.

The World Meteorological Office report stated that from 2009 to 2018, the ocean swallowed up just under a quarter of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions. This helped to ease some of the immediately obvious effects of climate change, but it came at the cost of a massive hike in the acidity levels of ocean waters generally. Ultimately, a variety of sea organisms and their habitats suffered as a consequence.

Analysis of the oceans has told us that the levels of oxygen within their waters are dropping. And it doesn’t take a science degree to realize that this isn’t a good thing for the living things in marine habitats. According to predictions, it looks as though coral reefs are set to experience huge amounts of damage because of these changes.

Such reefs are fascinating marine formations, made up of the skeletons of tiny creatures collectively known as coral. When robust, the structures play a vital role in allowing algae to flourish. Basically the organisms supply various chemicals that serve to screen the marine plants from sunlight’s more harmful elements, much like sun lotion protects human skin.

Like almost every plant, algae produce their food via photosynthesis, a process that, as we all know, yields oxygen as a waste product. In turn, the coral thrives in such highly oxygenated environments. In this way, the relationship between coral and algae is defined as symbiotic. Indeed, it’s no real exaggeration to say that algae are responsible for coral’s magnificent colors.

The complementary functions of coral and algae are delicately balanced, meaning that disruption can be catastrophic to both. So, as the ocean’s temperature soars, algae end up generating toxins that damage coral. This, then, has negative impacts upon the algae themselves. The phenomenon is known as bleaching, as it leads to the coral losing their brilliant colors and turning milky in appearance.

It has to be said that not all bleached corals will necessarily expire for good. Sometimes, their health can bounce back, provided the warm temperatures to which they’ve been exposed go down once again. If the waters stay hot, though, then the outcome really doesn’t look good for the structures.

It’s not just global warming on its own that threatens to destroy coral reefs. Other human interferences can also contribute to coral’s decline, like large-scale fishing or when harmful chemicals flow into the water. Intense storms can also make things worse, as can certain organisms that live in such underwater ecosystems.

Dr. Erika Woolsey is an ecologist who specializes in coral reefs, and in 2017 she delivered a presentation on the subject. Here, she stated, “Coral reefs… provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people around the world, they protect shorelines from erosion, and they contain compounds that are used to treat human ailments… Even though they cover less than 1 percent of the sea floor, they harbor about a quarter of all marine biodiversity.”

Perhaps the most well-known structure of its kind is the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Sadly, this incredible formation has been far from immune to the negative impact of rising ocean temperatures in recent years. In fact, since 2015 three significant bleaching events have left their mark on this famous landmark, which is actually most properly described as a system of thousands of individual reefs.

The Great Barrier Reef is situated off the shores of northeastern Australia. And it’s vast, stretching down the country’s coastline for roughly 1,430 miles. We can say for sure that the structures support the lives of at least 9,000 species, though the true figure is probably far higher. Discoveries are continuously being made there, after all.

Even if we look at the Great Barrier Reef from a purely economic perspective, its importance can’t be overstated. The structure attracts roughly 1.6 million people to the region annually, which funnels money into the area. This is meaningful for the people that live there, but of course the reef’s worth can’t simply be measured in financial terms alone.

The sheer extent of biodiversity that can be observed in the Great Barrier Reef is staggering. The place is home to creatures that everybody knows about, such as turtles, sharks, dolphins and even crocodiles. But on top of that there are also lesser-known species of worm and sea snake there, not to mention all the smaller organisms that make up the coral and algae.

Given the threats to this vital marine ecosystem, we can say that research focused on the Great Barrier Reef is essential. It seems that the Schmidt Ocean Institute agrees with this sentiment, seeing as how the group’s recently been involved in studies related to it. Of course, the group’s also been looking into the seawaters of Australia more broadly.

As previously noted, the Schmidt Ocean Institute has overseen some amazing discoveries in Australia over the last year alone. By April some 30 undiscovered species had been noted by the group’s researchers, with perhaps the most exciting being a siphonophore. Incredibly, this astounding superorganism measured roughly 150 feet in length, making it the longest creature on record.

Siphonophores are amazing things, made up of colonies of individual entities known as zooids. These creatures replicate again and again, until finally they can collectively be classified as one superorganism. The particular 150-foot specimen that was discovered by the researchers aboard the Falkor was a type of siphonophore known as an Apolemia.

The researchers also managed to record the presence of previously discovered organisms that had never been seen in Australia before. Examples of such creatures include the long-tailed sea cucumber and the Dana octopus squid, which glows in the dark. As well as that, varieties of squat lobster, barnacle and mollusk were found.

One of the scientists who worked on this particular research voyage was Dr. Nerida Wilson. Speaking in a statement, the scientist reflected on the discoveries that she and her colleagues had made. She said, “We suspected these deep-sea areas would be diverse, but we have been blown away by the significance of what we have seen.”

Schmidt Ocean Institute co-founder Wendy Schmidt, meanwhile, stated, “There is so much we don’t know about the deep sea, and there are countless species never before seen. Our planet is deeply interconnected – what happens in the deep sea impacts life on land, and vice versa. This research is vital to advance our understanding of that connection – and the importance of protecting these fragile ecosystems.”

In September 2020 Schmidt Ocean Institute researchers revealed that they had recently been investigating the deepest parts of the Great Barrier Reef. Here, they stumbled upon yet more new species, including types of sponges and black corals. They also analyzed the geographical features of the area, hoping to gain a greater understanding of how such characteristics have affected the life found there.

The researchers actually managed to retrieve a sample of the rock that sits underneath the Great Barrier Reef. Such a feat had never been achieved before, so hopefully it’ll prove to be revealing down the line. Given that it’s thought to date back 40 or 50 million years, it’s bound to be of some scientific interest.

The scientists also encountered a Rhinopias agroliba, a particularly uncommon fish never before found swimming near Australia. And in addition to all these discoveries, the researchers also worked towards creating a map of the seabed. This was no small undertaking, considering that the area upon which they were focusing was three times the size of Sydney.

The executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute is Dr. Jyotika Virmani. Delivering a statement on her organization’s activities, the scientist reflected, “These maps, samples, and images are fascinating and provide a new understanding of the geological diversity and biological wealth of a region that is already world-renowned for its natural beauty. The data will help marine park managers to protect these ecosystems that are so vital for our global biodiversity and human health.”

The Schmidt Ocean Institute’s mapping operations led to yet another incredible discovery in October. It seems that there’s no end to the things we have left to uncover in the depths of our oceans. This time, the group had found a previously unrecorded coral reef. And to be honest it’s not the sort of thing you might have thought it would be all that easy to miss. In fact, it’s a structure so large it’s taller than the Empire State Building in New York City.

The coral reef stands near the Great Barrier Reef, but isn’t actually a part of it. It stands on its own, meaning that it’s the first structure of its kind to be found in more than 120 years. Technology is largely behind the discovery; having first been spotted during underwater mapping of the area, a submersible robot dubbed SuBastian was then deployed to investigate it.

The reef has been characterized as resembling a blade, with a wider bottom than its top. This lower end, in fact, is a little under a mile wide, rising to a height of 1,640 feet or so. The whole thing is underwater, with its tip sitting about 130 feet from the surface.

The project’s head researcher Dr. Beaman expressed his joy with the find. He said, “We are surprised and elated by what we have found. To not only 3-D map the reef in detail, but also visually see this discovery with SuBastian is incredible. This has only been made possible by the commitment of Schmidt Ocean Institute to grant ship time to Australia’s scientists.”

Executive director Dr. Virmani, meanwhile, has expressed her own excitement. Noting just how much we have to learn about our own planet, she praised the technologies involved in this research. After all, they’re helping to open up new realms of knowledge of the seas.

Dr. Virmani said, “To find a new half-a-kilometer-tall reef in the offshore Cape York area of the well-recognized Great Barrier Reef shows how mysterious the world is just beyond our coastline. This powerful combination of mapping data and underwater imagery will be used to understand this new reef and its role within the incredible Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.”

More research was still to be undertaken after the discovery of this new coral reef, so perhaps we’ll soon be treated to yet more incredible news from Australia. These habitats are so important to the world that learning as much as we can about them is a vitally important task. In doing so, perhaps we can find ways to limit the damage that climate change looks set to inflict upon them.