Deep-sea Biology Research Articles

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on lipid membrane lateral structure.

High pressure is both an environmental challenge to which deep sea biology has to adapt, and a highly sensitive thermodynamic tool that can be used to trigger structural changes in biological molecules and assemblies. Lipid membranes are amongst the most pressure sensitive biological assemblies and pressure can have a large influence on their structure and properties. In this chapter, we will explore the use of high pressure small angle X-ray diffraction and high pressure microscopy to measure and quantify changes in the lateral structure of lipid membranes under both equilibrium high pressure conditions and in response to pressure jumps.

Deep-sea biology in undergraduate classrooms: Open access data from remotely operated vehicles provide impactful research experiences

Opportunities for students to conduct research in courses increase feelings of belonging in science, retention in STEM majors, and sense of ownership in a student’s educational experience. However, many research fields are challenging to bring to students: for example, deep-sea biology often requires expensive expeditions, restricting participation and accessibility. Access to deep-sea systems has been expanded by programs such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Exploration (NOAA Ocean Exploration), which uses telepresence to bring deep-sea exploration to a global audience. Here, we present one example of how remotely operated vehicles can engage students in original research. Students in an undergraduate Marine Biology lab at at the State University of New York at Geneseo investigated the relationship between substrate rugosity and biodiversity of cold-water coral communities and associate fauna. The study site in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument was explored by NOAA Ocean Exploration using NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as part of the 2017 Mountains in the Deep Expedition, EX1705. Organism density was greater at higher rugosity levels, suggesting that complex substrates support higher abundances in deep-sea communities. This research experience enhanced student’s understanding of the scientific process, appreciation for deep-sea communities, and engagement in the course. Open access deep-sea data provide impactful opportunities for students to participate in original research, increasing the accessibility and reach of deep-sea science.

Broad distribution of spider-shaped lebensspuren along the Australian continental margin

During feeding and burrowing, many epibenthic and infaunal animals bioturbate sediments and form a range of traces called lebensspuren (German for ‘life traces’), defined as any type of sedimentary structure produced by a living organism. During a 2020 survey along western Australia in the Gascoyne Marine Park, a distinct trace was observed several times, identical to the ‘spider trace’ observed in a 2007 survey along eastern Australia, over 4000 km away. The purpose of this brief note is to document and describe the occurrence of this unique and distinctive type of lebensspuren and to discuss ways in which similar observations may be effectively shared to increase our understanding of deep-sea biology.

Intelligent Annotation Algorithm Based on Deep-Sea Macrobenthic Images

In the field of image processing, due to the need of expertise and skills in deep-sea biology and the disadvantages of high labor cost and long time consuming, it has always been a difficult task to mark the images of deep-sea benthic organisms. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a new image intelligent labeling algorithm LACP AL (Localization-Aware-Choice and Pseudo Label Active Learning) which is based on Localization-Aware Active Learning. LACP AL is an active learning framework based on Faster R-CNN, it finds the ``valuable'' samples from unlabeled samples by clustering algorithm for every training; it selects hard-to-identify samples for manual annotation and further optimizes the model; and it proposes an improved pseudo-labeling mechanism to expand the training set and improve the model accuracy. According to the publicly available dataset provided by 2020 China Underwater Robot Professional Contest, a series of experiments has been done to verify that our algorithm can achieve higher recognition accuracy with fewer training samples compared with the existing algorithms for Marine benthic image recognition.

Testing Bathymetric and Regional Patterns in the Southwest Atlantic Deep Sea Using Infaunal Diversity, Structure, and Function

A better understanding of deep-sea biology requires knowledge of the structure and function of their communities, the spatial, temporal, and environmental patterns, and the changes and dynamics that govern them. Some of the most studied patterns in deep-sea biology are those related to bathymetrical gradients. For meiofauna and nematodes, such studies have highlighted the importance of recognizing regional differences in using ecological mechanisms to explain those patterns. Despite holding significant fisheries and oil and gas resources, the eastern Brazilian Continental Margin is poorly understood with respect to its seafloor biology and ecology. To answer ecological questions of deep-sea infaunal structural and functional diversity in relation to bathymetrical patterns, we used nematode data from five bathymetric transects (400, 1000, 1900, 2500, and 3000 m water depth) sampled in 2011 and 2013 on the Espírito Santo slope off the coast of southeast (SE) Brazil. Deep nematode community analysis based on 6763 nematode identifications showed very high levels of diversity (201 genera; 43 families) compared to other ocean basins and deep-sea regions. Our analyses showed that there is a distinct bathymetric break in standing stocks and community structure between 1000 and 1900 m. Nematode standing stocks were much higher at 400 and 1000 m compared to those for similar depths worldwide, likely linked to the intense and frequent upwelling and specific hydrographic and topographic identity of the region. The bathymetric break was not present for structural and functional nematode diversity. Instead, bathymetric regressions showed that they increased gradually toward 3000 m water depth. The deep Espírito Santo basin is characterized by rich and equitable nematode communities that are both mature and trophically diverse. General deep-sea ecological theories apply to our findings, but there are also substantial regional effects related to the local margin topography, upwelling, and oceanographic and hydrodynamic processes that make the Espírito Santo Basin a unique and diverse deep-sea ecosystem.

The neglected contributions of William Beebe to the natural history of the deep-sea

Abstract William Beebe (1877–1962) was a very popular 20th century naturalist and an early proponent of studying all organisms in a habitat. Beebe’s deep-sea work began with his Arcturus Oceanographic Expedition in 1925 with sampling closely modelled on the Michael Sars deep-sea expedition. Dissatisfied with ship-based sampling of stations for a few days at best, he established a field laboratory in Bermuda to do intensive deep-water sampling. From 1929 to 1934, plankton net tows were carried out at the same site, over several months each year, totalling over 1500 net tows in deep waters. Here, the sampling efforts and results are reviewed from both the Arcturus Expedition and the Bermuda station. Study of the deep-sea samples yielded 43 scientific articles, published from 1926 to 1952, on a large variety of taxa. Beebe is still a popular figure connected in the public view with deep-sea exploration from his famous Bathysphere dives at the Bermuda site. However, his name rarely, if ever, appears in academic reviews of deep-sea biology or deep-sea expeditions. This study is an attempt to draw attention to Beebe’s considerable scientific deep-sea work and provide some speculation as to why his contributions might be neglected.

Deep-sea Coral Taxonomy Workshop, Colombia 2019

Corals are some of the conspicuous taxa in deep-sea ecosystems. Yet, characterizing coral diversity is difficult and requires a combination of both morphological and genetic data. Many leading coral taxonomy experts are close-to retirement or have already retired. It is now imperative that the hands-on expertise that these taxonomists have – much of which is not captured in manuscripts or books – is transferred to the next generation. The Deep-Sea Coral Taxonomy Workshop, funded by a Lounsbery award from the Deep-Sea Biology Society, aimed to provide a training opportunities and build taxonomic capacity in Colombia and Latin America. Workshop participants examined the deep-sea coral diversity of the southern western Caribbean, a poorly explored region. The three-day workshop was based mainly on hands-on activities focused on octocorals and black corals, and included introductory talks to the taxonomy of these groups and identification activities using specimens. Thanks to the workshop, it was possible to review and update the classification database of the Makuriwa Marine Natural History Museum collection. Additionally, four new species from the families Clavulariidae, Plexauridae and Gorgoniidae were identified and will be described in the near future.

Before the “Black Box”: The Inputs and Outputs of Nineteenth-century Deep-sea Science

Nineteenth-century investigations of the deep sea provide a case study for black box science. Naturalists were forced to theorize about a space for which they had no direct sensory observations. This study traces the emergence of bathymetry and deep-sea biology and then analyzes how men of science dealt with the uncertainty associated with their black box practices. I argue that these investigators created multiple types of black boxes based on their uncertainties and that these black boxes did not operate equivalently. Consequently, scholars should be aware of the different categories of black boxes when they describe scientific practices.

The Influence of Different Saliency on Full-Reference Sonar Image Quality Evaluation

With the advent of sonar technology, our understanding of the ocean has become more comprehensive, especially for deep sea biology and geology. However, the sonar image is easily degraded during the underwater acoustic channel acquisition process, which affects the later research work. To this end, this paper compares and analyzes multiple saliency models and combines them with PSNR, SSIM and GSIM to explore an effective sonar image quality evaluation method. Finally, an experimental analysis on the newly established sonar image quality database shows that the difference of the significance model in predicting human attention has a performance gain effect on the image quality evaluation method when fused with the saliency model.

Underwater image restoration algorithm for free-ascending deep-sea tripods

A Free-Ascending Tripod (FAT) was deployed at a water depth of 2100 m to measure the currents and sediment movement at the seafloor. FAT is used to better understand how and where deep-seafloor sediment moves and accumulates. We also use FATs to study deep-sea biology. In the images obtained by the camera, biological animals can hardly be distinguished. In this paper, we use image processing technology to uncover the real deep-sea scene. We propose four methods for improving the underwater image quality. First, we use the deep-sea optical imaging model to determine the properties of water in different sea areas and then remove the haze from underwater images using the underwater dual dark channel model. Next, we remove the footprint of artificial light through halo-estimation devignetting. Then, we obtain the real deep-sea scene color based on the color temperature of the camera and the inherent optical properties of water. Finally, we propose a semi-self-similarity-based super resolution for super-resolving the low-quality images. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.

The deep-sea under global change

The deep ocean encompasses 95% of the oceans' volume and is the largest and least explored biome of Earth's Biosphere. New life forms are continuously being discovered. The physiological mechanisms allowing organisms to adapt to extreme conditions of the deep ocean (high pressures, from very low to very high temperatures, food shortage, lack of solar light) are still largely unknown. Some deep-sea species have very long life-spans, whereas others can tolerate toxic compounds at high concentrations; these characteristics offer an opportunity to explore the specialized biochemical and physiological mechanisms associated with these responses. Widespread symbiotic relationships play fundamental roles in driving host functions, nutrition, health, and evolution. Deep-sea organisms communicate and interact through sound emissions, chemical signals and bioluminescence. Several giants of the oceans hunt exclusively at depth, and new studies reveal a tight connection between processes in the shallow water and some deep-sea species. Limited biological knowledge of the deep-sea limits our capacity to predict future response of deep-sea organisms subject to increasing human pressure and changing global environmental conditions. Molecular tools, sensor-tagged animals, in situ and laboratory experiments, and new technologies can enable unprecedented advancement of deep-sea biology, and facilitate the sustainable management of deep ocean use under global change.

When Pasteurian Science Went to Sea: The Birth of Marine Microbiology.

In the late nineteenth century, French naturalists were global leaders in microbial research. Louis Pasteur advanced sterilization techniques and demonstrated that dust particles in the air could contaminate a putrefiable liquid. Pasteur's discoveries prompted a new research program for the naturalists of the Talisman and Travailleur expeditions: to recover uncontaminated water and mud samples from the deep sea. French naturalists Adrien Certes and Paul Regnard both independently conducted experiments to address the question of whether microorganisms inhabited the oceans and whether organic material in the deep sea was subject to decomposition. The experiments of Certes and Regnard have largely been omitted from histories of microbiology and marine science. However, an examination of their work is crucial for understanding the context in which marine microbiology first developed. At the end of the nineteenth century, marine microbiology emerged from the disciplinary melding of terrestrial microbial ecology, experimental physiology, and the then-nascent field of deep-sea biology.

Bathymetric patterns in standing stock and diversity of deep-sea nematodes at the long-term ecological research observatory HAUSGARTEN (Fram Strait)

Abstract Bathymetric patterns in standing stocks and diversity are a major topic of investigation in deep-sea biology. From the literature, responses of metazoan meiofauna and nematodes to bathymetric gradients are well studied, with a general decrease in biomass and abundance with increasing water depth, while bathymetric diversity gradients often, although it is not a rule, show a unimodal pattern. Spatial distribution patterns of nematode communities along bathymetric gradients are coupled with surface-water processes and interacting physical and biological factors within the benthic system. We studied the nematode communities at the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) observatory HAUSGARTEN, located in the Fram Strait at the Marginal Ice Zone, with respect to their standing stocks as well as structural and functional diversity. We evaluated whether nematode density, biomass and diversity indices, such as H 0 , H inf , EG (50) , Θ − 1 , are linked with environmental conditions along a bathymetric transect spanning from 1200 m to 5500 m water depth. Nematode abundance, biomass and diversity, as well as food availability from phytodetritus sedimentation (indicated by chloroplastic pigments in the sediments), were higher at the stations located at upper bathyal depths (1200–2000 m) and tended to decrease with increasing water depth. A faunal shift was found below 3500 m water depth, where genus composition and trophic structure changed significantly and structural diversity indices markedly decreased. A strong dominance of very few genera and its high turnover particularly at the abyssal stations (4000–5500 m) suggests that environmental conditions were rather unfavorable for most genera. Despite the high concentrations of sediment-bound chloroplastic pigments and elevated standing stocks found at the deepest station (5500 m), nematode genus diversity remained the lowest compared to all other stations. This study provides a further insight into the knowledge of deep-sea nematodes, their diversity patterns and a deeper understanding of the environmental factors shaping nematodes communities at bathyal and abyssal depths.

Condition and recruitment of Aristeus antennatus at great depths (to 2300 m) in the Mediterranean: environmental links and implications for management.

XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM), 5-9 September 2016, Porto, Portugal

Cohn, Scotti, illustrated byBersani, Shennen. 2014. Animal Partners. Abordale Publishing,Mount Pleasant, SC, USA, ISBN 978‐1628554564, 32 pp., $9.95, PBKurtz, Kevin, illustrated byHunter, Erin E. 2013. A Day in the Deep. Sylvan Dell Publishing,Mount Pleasant, SC, USA, ISBN‐13 978‐1607186298, 32 pp., $9.95, PB

I was pleasantly surprised to see both “Animal Partners” and “Day in the Deep” by Arbordale Publishing because too many children's books do not convey accurate science or may not reflect the most intriguing scientific discoveries. As an oceanographer, I want my field to be accessible and exciting for children and, personally, to be able to read science books to the young people in my life. As a sampling of what science-related books Arbordale Publishing has to offer, “Animal Partners” and “A Day in the Deep” mostly achieve those goals. Both books are a short collection of vignettes on each page spread; “Animal Partners” describes a different land or water-based animal symbiosis while “Day in the Deep” illustrates symbioses in 500-foot depth increments from the ocean surface to the seafloor. In both books, there are no introductory comments, no linkages between vignettes such that each stands on its own, nor a conclusion to tie all of the individual vignettes together, which represents a missed opportunity for synthesis and conceptual learning. Strengths of these books include their scientific accuracy, both in text and illustration, and their curriculum connections. For these reasons, they are good supplemental out-of-class learning experiences. The content of the books is aligned into the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards, and standards alignment is available on the publisher's website. The books have 4 pages of interactive review activities at the end of the book and an additional teaching activities guide (publisher's website). I put my deep-sea biology experience to the test as I critically reviewed “A Day in the Deep” for scientific accuracy, and I can attest to the fact that this book is scientifically sound. The best stories in “Animal Partners” explain the biological interactions of the symbiosis (almost all mutualisms). Likewise, my least favorite stories just describe two creatures living together without an explanation for the nature of the symbiosis. For instance, one vignette discusses how barnacles can live on shells of sea turtles, but the reader learns nothing about the commensal relationship. A microbiologist like myself will be disappointed to not find any vignettes about microbe-animal symbioses. “A Day in the Deep” describes deep-sea adaptations for some of the world's weirdest-looking critters, including the gulper eel, the deep-sea angler fish (and her parasitic males), and the viperfish, all critters whose day in the sun has finally come. I was pleasantly surprised to see a vignette about a whale fall, but, sadly, it failed to hint at chemosynthesis. The author missed a fantastic opportunity for generating interest in ocean discovery when the illustrator put in three pictures of an ROV (resembling Jason) but failed to even mention ROVs in the text. Although the books had a few shortcomings in promoting conceptual learning, I am still excited to share these aquatic science children's books with the young people in my life! Rachel E. A. Horak, American Society for Microbiology, 8901B Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20815 USA; rahorak@gmail.com

On the Validity of theTriesteFlatfish: Dispelling the Myth

In 1960, the first-ever manned dive to the deepest place on earth (11,000 m) took place. The pilots reported that on contact with the seafloor they observed a ”flatfish.” This story captured the public imagination yet bears no scientific credibility. In the myriad of publicity surrounding James Cameron’s latest dive, some 52 years later, the story of the flatfish is once again being perpetuated in the popular media, misinforming the public about deep-sea biology. This study attempts to dispel the story of the flatfish by exploring more recent developments in deep-sea exploration and biological research: (1) the mismatch of depths compared with fish of similar body form, (2) an improbable window of opportunity to have made the observations, (3) the absence of fish from other cameras deployed in the trenches, (4) the absence of fish from subsequent exploration of the area, and (5) new hypotheses that predict that fish are, at a cellular level, physiologically incapable of surviving at depths greater than 8500 m. On the basis of all these aspects, it is clear that the Trieste flatfish story is either a misidentification or entirely erroneous. On the 23rd of January 1960, the Bathyscaphe Trieste descended to the deepest place on Earth—Challenger Deep (10,916 m) in the Mariana Trench, Central Pacific Ocean. This exercise represented the first human presence in the deepest part of the oceans. Such an achievement was understandably embroiled in a myriad of publicity at the time, and the story of Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh’s exploit has been told in the contexts of ocean exploration and human endeavor ever since. The legendary status of the Trieste dive is founded not only upon being the first to achieve such feats but also to have remained the only humans to have done so for more than 50 years. The story of the Trieste is once again at the forefront of popular science news and media, partly due to the 50th anniversary of the dive in 2010 and more recently as a result of the X Prize Foundation competition to construct a manned submersible capable of transporting humans to and from the deepest place on Earth. This “race” to Challenger Deep involved several competitors including high-profile personalities such as Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson, Google founder Eric Schmidt, and the Hollywood film producer James Cameron, who recently won the race. While this renewed and high-profile interest in sending humans to Challenger Deep represents a ground-breaking endeavor in terms of new deep-submergence technology, promotion of the deep-sea environment, and inspiration for future generations of scientists and technologists, it has also resurrected details from the Trieste story that are misleading and most likely erroneous. Recent media coverage has brought the story of the “Trieste flatfish” back into the public arena. The story relates to a flatfish observed through the viewport of the Trieste by Jacques Piccard at nearly 11,000 m deep. Very little was known about the geographic and bathymetric distribution of deep-sea fauna at the time of the dive, and the story of the flatfish sighting was heralded as proof that life exists at full ocean depth and provided the kind of detail that made the dive such a success and so popular. However, 50 years on from the Trieste dive, considerable progress has been made in understanding the bathymetric distribution of fish and exploring the trenches, and despite the ever-increasing wealth of information to suggest that the flatfish sighting is dubious, the story still persists. For example, Philippe Cousteau Jr., an environmental advocate, even related this story live on CNN to an Received 12 April 2012; accepted 6 May 2012. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: a.jamieson@ abdn.ac.uk Reference: Biol. Bull. 222: 171–175. (June 2012) © 2012 Marine Biological Laboratory

Correction for Higgs et al. , Bones as biofuel: a review of whale bone composition with implications for deep-sea biology and palaeoanthropology

You have accessMoreSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Cite this article Higgs Nicholas D., Little Crispin T. S. and Glover Adrian G. 2011Correction for Higgs et al., Bones as biofuel: a review of whale bone composition with implications for deep-sea biology and palaeoanthropologyProc. R. Soc. B.278960http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.2553SectionYou have accessCorrectionsCorrection for Higgs et al., Bones as biofuel: a review of whale bone composition with implications for deep-sea biology and palaeoanthropology Nicholas D. Higgs Nicholas D. Higgs Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Crispin T. S. Little Crispin T. S. Little Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author and Adrian G. Glover Adrian G. Glover Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Nicholas D. Higgs Nicholas D. Higgs Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Crispin T. S. Little Crispin T. S. Little Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author and Adrian G. Glover Adrian G. Glover Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Published:15 December 2010https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.2553This article corrects the followingReview ArticleBones as biofuel: a review of whale bone composition with implications for deep-sea biology and palaeoanthropologyhttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1267 Nicholas D. Higgs, Crispin T. S. Little and Adrian G. Glover volume 278issue 1702Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences11 August 2010Figure 1a on page 12 was presented incorrectly. The third bar from the right should be filled yellow at the base to indicate 52.9 per cent lipid content of the bone. The correct figure is displayed below.Download figureOpen in new tabDownload PowerPoint Previous Article VIEW FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD PDF FiguresRelatedReferencesDetailsRelated articlesBones as biofuel: a review of whale bone composition with implications for deep-sea biology and palaeoanthropology11 August 2010Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences This Issue22 March 2011Volume 278Issue 1707 Article InformationDOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.2553Published by:Royal SocietyPrint ISSN:0962-8452Online ISSN:1471-2954History: Published online15/12/2010Published in print22/03/2011 License:This Journal is © 2010 The Royal Society Citations and impact Subjectsecologyenvironmental sciencepalaeontology Large datasets are available through Proceedings B's partnership with Dryad

Abundance, diversity, and latitudinal gradients of southeastern Atlantic and Antarctic abyssal gastropods

Mollusca are widely used for deriving concepts on deep-sea biology and biodiversity, yet abyssal collections are limited to only a few regions of the world ocean and biased toward the northern Atlantic. The present study compares gastropod molluscs sampled along a transect through the southern Atlantic from the equator to Antarctica. The DIVA I and II expeditions concentrated on the hardly explored Guinea, Angola, and Cape Basins. Of the 145 deep-sea deployments (5025-5656 m depth) analyzed to date, 20 have yielded 68 specimens of benthic gastropods, representing 27 species. Only five abyssal species were previously known, four of them from the northern Atlantic deep sea; the remainder appear to be undescribed. Interestingly, there is no faunal overlap with the nearby Antarctic deep-sea. Most of these DIVA species (63%) are represented by single individuals, or limited to one or two stations. The rarity (i.e. 0.55 specimens m −2 calculated from quantitative corers) and still undetectable patchiness of southeastern Atlantic abyssal gastropods may indicate “source-sink” dynamics, but comparison is needed with thus far hardly explored regional bathyal faunas. The BRENKE-epibenthic sledge (EBS) may be efficient at surveying the abyssal gastropod species richness, but is shown to drastically underestimate true abundances. Low diversity values throughout the three southern Atlantic ocean basins do further challenge earlier estimates of a hyperdiverse global abyssal macrofauna. Comparative EBS data available from the southern hemisphere indicate a gradient from the equatorial Guinea Basin towards higher gastropod abundances and diversity in Antarctica. This is in clear contrast to the paradigm of a globally strongly decreasing marine diversity from lower to higher latitudes, highlighting the importance of further exploring the southern fauna from the tropics to Antarctica.

Bones as biofuel: a review of whale bone composition with implications for deep-sea biology and palaeoanthropology

Whales are unique among vertebrates because of the enormous oil reserves held in their soft tissue and bone. These 'biofuel' stores have been used by humans from prehistoric times to more recent industrial-scale whaling. Deep-sea biologists have now discovered that the oily bones of dead whales on the seabed are also used by specialist and generalist scavenging communities, including many unique organisms recently described as new to science. In the context of both cetacean and deep-sea invertebrate biology, we review scientific knowledge on the oil content of bone from several of the great whale species: Balaenoptera musculus, Balaenoptera physalus, Balaenoptera borealis, Megaptera novaeangliae, Eschrichtius robustus, Physeter macrocephalus and the striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba. We show that data collected by scientists over 50 years ago during the heyday of industrial whaling explain several interesting phenomena with regard to the decay of whale remains. Variations in the lipid content of bones from different parts of a whale correspond closely with recently observed differences in the taphonomy of deep-sea whale carcasses and observed biases in the frequency of whale bones at archaeological sites.

EMSO: European multidisciplinary seafloor observatory

EMSO has been identified by the ESFRI Report 2006 as one of the Research Infrastructures that European members and associated states are asked to develop in the next decades. It will be based on a European-scale network of multidisciplinary seafloor observatories from the Arctic to the Black Sea with the aim of long-term real-time monitoring of processes related to geosphere/biosphere/hydrosphere interactions. EMSO will enhance our understanding of processes, providing long time series data for the different phenomenon scales which constitute the new frontier for study of Earth interior, deep-sea biology and chemistry, and ocean processes. The development of an underwater network is based on past EU projects and is supported by several EU initiatives, such as the on-going ESONET-NoE, aimed at strengthening the ocean observatories’ scientific and technological community. The EMSO development relies on the synergy between the scientific community and industry to improve European competitiveness with respect to countries such as USA, Canada and Japan. Within the FP7 Programme launched in 2006, a call for Preparatory Phase (PP) was issued in order to support the foundation of the legal and organisational entity in charge of building up and managing the infrastructure, and coordinating the financial effort among the countries. The EMSO-PP project, coordinated by the Italian INGV with participation by 11 institutions from as many European countries, started in April 2008 and will last four years.