New Creatures Discovered in the Australian Deep

In a recent search of unexplored Australian water, scientists have discovered several previously unknown species of marine life. In a joint US-Australian research project off the coast of the southern island of Tasmania, the team, led by lead researcher Ron Thresher, "search for life deeper than any previous voyage in Australian waters." A submerged robot named Jason was used to explore a rift in the earth's crust known as the Tasman Fracture Zone, a sheer two kilometer (1.24 mile) drop to 4,000 meters (13,200 feet) below the ocean's surface.

"Our sampling documented the deepest known Australian fauna, including a bizarre carnivorous sea squirt, sea spiders and giant sponges, and previously unknown marine communities dominated by gooseneck barnacles and millions of round, purple-spotted sea anemones," Thresher said.

The sea squirt, also known as an ascidian, stands 50 centimeters tall on the sea floor at a depth of just over 4,000 meters. It traps prey in its funnel-like front section if they touch it when they swim past. On ship blogger, Adam Subhas, described the sea squirt as "basically an underwater Venus fly trap, but much bigger."

They found not only new species, but also new evidence of global warming’s threat to sea life. Ancient coral fields, dating back more than 10,000 years, as well as modern-day deep-water coral reefs were found, and Thresher said samples taken would provide ancient climate data for use in global warming projections. Although more testing is needed, it is suspected that ocean acidification is behind the change.

"If our analysis identifies this phenomenon as the cause of the reef system's demise, then the impact we are seeing now below 1,300 meters might extend to the shallower portions of the deep-reefs over the next 50 years, threatening this entire community," Thresher said.

The rise of temperatures in the world’s oceans are blamed on global warming, which is caused by the build-up in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. This is also blamed for higher acidity in seawater.

Climate change will also be responsible for the death of the Great Barrier Reef within decades if global warming is not stopped.