Deep Ocean Producing 'Dark' Oxygen, Study Finds

Scientists for first time spot alien-type creatures living in darkest depths of our ocean

The strange and lesser-known world of oceans has always remained a place of mystery for scientists. Now, a newfound collection of rarely-seen and alien-looking species lurking on the seafloor, has left the scientists dumbfounded. The marine scientists, who were researching the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, found marine animals which were never seen before.  These creatures have been living a very different and unknown life which was covered by the permanent darkness of the abyssopelagic.

Insights into the biodiversity of annelids in the world's largest deep-sea mineral exploration region

The demand for rare raw materials, such as cobalt, is fueling the exploration of the deep-sea floor for mining. Commercial deep-sea mining is currently prohibited in areas beyond national jurisdiction, but companies are permitted exploratory operations in certain areas to assess their mineral wealth and measure environmental baselines.

5,000 deep-sea animals new to science turned up in ocean records

Scientists compiled a list of animals unknown to science that live in a deep-sea Pacific Ocean ecosystem targeted for mining exploration.

Deep sea surveys detect over five thousand new species in future mining hotspot

There is a massive, mineral-rich region in the Pacific Ocean—about twice the size of India—called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which has already been divided up and assigned to companies for future deep-sea mining. To better understand what may be at risk once companies start mining, a team of biologists has built the first “CCZ checklist” by compiling all the species records from previous research expeditions to the region. Their estimates of the species diversity of the CCZ, publishing in the journal Current Biology on May 25, included a total of 5,578 different species, an estimated 88%–92% of which are entirely new to science.

Meet the ‘gummy squirrel’ and thousands of other newly discovered deep-sea species – in pictures

A trove of biodiversity has been catalogued by scientists in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast area of the Pacific Ocean situated between Hawaii and Mexico, which has been targeted by deep-sea mining companies keen to exploit its mineral wealth