Old Mariners Tale

The Census of Marine Life is a growing global network of researchers in more than 70 nations engaged in a ten-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans past, present, and future. Through 2010, scientists worldwide will work to quantify what is known, unknown, and what may never be known about the world's oceans-which comprise more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface and more than 90 percent of its biosphere. They help identify threatened species and important breeding areas, helping authorities develop effective strategies for the sustainable management of marine resources. New pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds are also among the potential uses of the estimated thousands of undescribed species that will be found. And as the secrets of the planet's last unexplored frontier are revealed, understanding of elemental processes such as climate, evolution, extinction, and migration will expand.