|
A handout image made available by the National Oceanography Centre on July 24, 2023, shows a carnivorous sponge, Axoniderma mexicana, photographed during a recent expedition to the NE Pacific abys and found in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), has shown it is not just rich with life – with one study finding some 5,000 species previously unknown to science – but also far more complex than previously thought. That raises further questions about controversial proposals, currently being discussed at international talks in Jamaica, to mine the CCZ for the rock-like nodules. Once thought of as an underwater desert, the vast abyssal plain stretching between Hawaii and Mexico has been scoured by scientists as mining firms eye mineral-rich nodules scattered across the seafloor. From giant sea cucumbers and a shrimp with a set of elongated bristly legs, to the many tiny worms, crustaceans and molluscs, the lightless ocean depths are far from barren. (Photo by National Oceanography Centre/AFP Photo)
|
