A Curtin University-led study in the deep sea canyons off the Ningaloo Coast has revealed a range of species previously undetected in the area, and others possibly completely new to science.
Using eDNA, this expedition surveyed the deep Cape Range and Cloates submarine canyons, collecting more than 1000 samples from depths of 4510 metres below.
Environmental DNA is any genetic material shed by animals which allows scientists to detect what species have been present in the area without needing to see or capture them.
Among the 226 species detected across 11 major animal groups, the most remarkable finds were traces of the giant squid, detected across six samples, and deep-diving whales including the Pygmy sperm whale and Cuvier’s beaked whale.
Lead author Dr Georgia Nester says this was her first deep sea expedition, and it opened her eyes to how diverse these ecosystems are.
“What we’re trying to do is provide more data for parks and fisheries on what is in these regions and help understand how we can protect our deep sea better,” she says.
“The Ningaloo expedition was on the R/V Falkor , the main goal was to explore and characterise these deep sea canyons.
“We know a little about the geography and geology but we don’t really understand the biodiversity yet, so we’re trying to understand what’s there and how they interact with one another.”
Dr Nester says these expeditions with new technology are important to better understand the deep sea, in ways we couldn’t before.
“We’re only starting to explore these regions thoroughly in the past 10-15 years, with technology advancing allowing us to go deeper and deeper.
“Discovering more than 200 species in these canyons was pretty impressive.”
“When people think of the deep sea they think of this deep, desolate environment, but what we found was that it was actually teeming with life.”
Dr Georgia Nester
Deputy Director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre Dr Todd Bond says eDNA can provide some important information about the species that are in the deep sea.
“We don’t have a complete picture of the things that are down there,” he says.
“It’s difficult to know how big the puzzle is, if we start filling in some of the pieces, then we can get an understanding of what the picture might look like.”
Dr Bond says a lot of the deep areas off our Western Australian coastline are found in Australian networks of marine parks and it is important to protect these assets.
“The more information that we have about what things are in our marine parks, the better we can protect that biodiversity,” he says.
Categories: Animals, Feature Slider, News Day, Science