Scientists Discover New Microscopic Sea Life

The crew of the research Vessel Tara has recently completed a two-and-a-half year 70,000-mile expedition. The expedition provides a snapshot of life at the bottom of the oceanic food chain. More than 30,000 samples of seawater were taken from locations across the globe, from the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, south to the remote Antarctic seas. The expedition's findings reveal the diversity and complexity of the tiny plankton that are a vital food source for fish and whales. In total, 1.5 million species of marine microorganisms were recorded – significantly more than were previously believed to exist. They range from creatures that are one centimeter in length, to tiny life forms that are measured in billionths of a meter. Studying their distribution and life cycle could provide important insights into the impact of climate change on the oceans. The migration or extinction of microscopic species sensitive to sea temperature changes or acidification could cause the collapse of marine food chains, as well as the international fisheries that depend on them, scientists have warned. The Tara, a 36-metre long schooner, is a comparatively small ship to have undertaken a scientific mission on this scale. The vessel is owned by the French fashion designer and environmental campaigner Agnès Troublé, who also provided half the funding for the expedition. The vessel, under its former name Seamaster, once belonged to the New Zealand yachtsman and environmentalist Sir Peter Blake, who was murdered by pirates on board the ship in 2001 while surveying the Amazon river basin.  An earlier two-year expedition saw the schooner lock herself in the Arctic sea ice to study climactic conditions in the Polar Regions. The latest expedition set off from the Tara's home port of Lorient, France in June 2009. Over the next 36 months, a rotating crew of 14 sailed for several months at a time in cramped conditions, stopping to take samples to a depth of 2,000 meters with specially designed nets.