Unknown neighbors of the Atlantic

2004/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ekologia

There is a project underway for the elaboration of the Census of Living Seafarers, which includes the so-called MAR-ECO. Its function is to study the central Atlantic mountain range. This mountain range is the highest in the world, ranging from Iceland to Azores, where researchers have found quite a few species they have so far not known. In particular, a total of 80,000 species have been collected, of which 45-50 are considered unknown. Among them are several fish and squid.

In addition, acoustic instruments have been used to detect the activity of live seafarers and images of the ocean floor have been taken through cameras. Thanks to this they have been able to verify that at 2,000 meters deep there are some surprising traces, in the form of a burrow or nest, but they still do not know what has produced them.

It is clear that the sea still preserves many mysteries in deep waters.