An expedition in February by Ocean Census (a nonprofit dedicated to the global discovery of ocean life), the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa has discovered dozens of new species of mollusks, three fish, a shrimp and a cephalopod in Bounty Trough off the coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
“It’s probably the equivalent of a space mission,” [Dr. Alex Rogers, expedition leader,] said. “We’re still in early days, but the number of species that we found in the Bounty Trough really indicates to us that we’ve got a long way to go in terms of understanding where life is found in the ocean.”
Full article at: NYTimes Science 10mar24