OVERVIEW OF U.S. CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE
The Census of Marine Life (CoML) is a broad global scientific initiative that supports research at the frontiers of our oceans: the hottest undersea vents, the deepest and darkest depths, the farthest animal migration patterns, and the richest species abundance. Census projects engage more than 2,700 scientists and ocean professionals from 80 countries. This global effort, coordinated by an international Scientific Steering Committee, is implemented by national and regional committees, including the U.S. National Committee (USNC). The USNC helps the overall Census to identify national and regional priorities, build partnerships, explore sources of funding, and promote the CoML to local audiences. The USNC is also working with Congress, federal agencies, the academic community, and private sector partners to establish a long-term, sustained program on marine biodiversity.
The mission of the U.S. CoML is to serve as an unbiased source of sound scientific information to support the needs of the nation by assessing and explaining the changing diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine species, as well as the functional role of marine biodiversity in the U.S. and its territories and commonwealths, in the past, present, and future.
With fanfare that even snared some attention outside scientific circles, the 10-year Census of Marine Life came to a conclusion Oct. 1. The headlines and self-congratulation were deserved: our “ocean planet” is predominantly covered with salt water, and the Census had strength in numbers: 2,700 scientists from more than 80 nations spent $650 million exploring life in salt water. Working in 25 groups, the scientists sifted and collated old data and performed new studies on 540 field expeditions.
(From The Why Files) — The Census also crafted the ground-breaking Ocean Biogeographic Information System. This public database contains 30 million records on more than 100,000 marine species, derived from new studies and about 800 existing databases that were harmonized for easy digital access (or so we’re told; we confess we’ve not looked up our favorite lobster in the database). Read the full story »
Experts convene Nov. 18-20, Dublin, Ireland for Oceans Past III Conference
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Bob Doughty and I’m Faith Lapidus. Today, we will tell about a ten-year study of the world’s oceans. We will also tell about four American women who are being honored for their work in science.
Britannica research editor Richard Pallardy posed some questions about the project to Randy Kochevar, principal investigator and public outreach coordinator for TOPP. Kochevar, who has in the past studied the organisms that live around hydrocarbon seeps and hydrothermal vents, was with the project from its inception.
In the oceans, Mother Nature continues to surprise and delight us with mesmerizing, jaw-dropping marine life that often wildly exceeds our imagination.
From alien-like isopods and vampire squid, to “fatheads” and the Dumbo octopus with flying ears, the Census of Marine Life exposed the strange creatures of the deep during its 10-year mission of discovery.
[ October 4, 2010 to October 7, 2010. ] The concluding News Conference and Panel Presentations will take place Monday, 4 October at The Royal Institution of Great Britain.
Finally, it was recently announced that Dr. Wes Tunnell, Vice Chair of the US National Committee, was honored by Texas Sea Grant when they announced that their Loggerhead Sportsmanship Award will be named after him.
The Mid Atlantic Ridge Ecosystems (MAR-ECO) project of the Census of Marine Life recently returned from an expedition focused on the cold waters north of the Gulf Stream and the warmer waters to the south.