DOSI Deep-Sea Round-Up

A soft coral bends in the strong current encountered while exploring a ridge extending to the southeast of an unnamed seamount east of Pearl and Hermes Atoll during the 2015 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters off Hawaiʻi expedition. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration.

The Round-Up this week starts with an introduction to Sarah Seabrook as the newest Co-Lead of DOSI’s Climate Change Working Group! We are excited to have Sarah on board, and we hope you will look forward to hearing more from her going forward.

Much of the latest deep-sea research is about the big picture. Our Hot Off the Press section begins with articles on untapped research potential in the abyssal ocean and the use of DNA to understand benthic biodiversity. Other pieces this week include work on fossil-eating sponges relying on millennia-long processes, global deep-sea observation techniques, and the biogeography of the lower bathyal zone.

In news, we link to articles about the “spacecraft cemetery” and a new measurement of the ocean’s deepest point due to an accidental implosion. Then we cover events like a talk by IUCN High Seas Advisor Kristina Gjerde on deep-sea mining. After highlighting the latest PhD and job opportunities, we end with a reminder that nominations for “mollusc of the year” close tomorrow. If there’s a mollusc in your life that needs sequencing, don’t forget to submit it!

CLICK FOR YOUR DEEP-SEA ROUND-UP – 10 February 2022