The expedition is part of an ambitious international effort to map life forms in the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean, and to study the impact of forces such as climate change on the undersea environment.
I love that there are new species developing on land and in the sea. Although we humans are the destroyers, Mother nature just keeps right on doing her thing. If we keep trying her, eventually she'll come up with human proof animals and plants.
We can never beat Mother N when it comes to creativity, beauty and color. Here are some of the new Antarctica discoveries and some others from recent finds around the world.
Among the bizarre-looking creatures the scientists spotted were tunicates, plankton-eating animals that resemble slender glass structures up to a yard tall "standing in fields like poppies.
Here, a giant scale worm is pictured on the seabed 2116 feet below the surface.
This Kiwa hirsuta resembles a furry lobster. The eyeless shellfish, about 5.9 inches long, was discovered in March 2005, near the hydrothermal vents of the Pacific Antarctic Ridge, south of Easter Island.
Wouldn't this make a lovely Mardi Gras mask?
Scientists said they have found a new species of palm tree on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar. It's no wonder it went undiscovered for so long: The tree flowers once every 100 years and then dies.
The "golden frog of Supata," found in a remote area of Colombia, belongs to a group of poison dart frogs that have toxins embedded in their skin. Scientists announced the discovery of the creature in August 2007.
Conservationists found the clouded leopard in March 2007 in the rainforests of Borneo. Hello gorgeous!
In March 2006, the Atelopus frog was found in the Nassau Mountains in eastern Suriname. It was one of 24 new species of wildlife discovered by scientists in the remote plateaus north of Brazil.
A new species of smoky honeyeater was among scores of new plant and animal species found during Conservation International's Foja Mountain expedition in late 2005.
There is some serious chicken face happening here.
6 comments:
Interesting photos - like something on the discovery channel.
Hi Jackie,
I bet there are thousands of species we have never seen. We know so little about our world.
That leopard is coooooooool! :)
also cosign with Mes Deux.
Actually, I've been here before. One time I came to say that it was really cool that you and your partner have been together for 27 years; so rare in this community. I thought it was great. :) I know this is not the place for the comment; but I'm just sayin. Sorry about that double double on that last comment. Blogger wears me out sometimes. LOL.
You're so right about Mother Nature always bouncing back. Robin Williams once said that earthquakes in Los Angeles were simply Mother Nature's way of saying, "Get those condominiums off my back!!!"
Aren't they incredible! I agree that these are probably only the tip of the new stuff going on in the oceans and forests. We have to r-e-s-p-e-c-t Mother N because she is always a step ahead of us and as Robin says, she knows how to get us off her back.
Speaking of RESPECT, PETA (the animal rights org.), is on Aretha Franklin's case about all the fur she's been wearing lately.
Oh man! That's a lot of fur. This should be a battle royal.
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