Census of Marine Life

Census of Marine Life Census of Marine Life
Census of Marine Life

The Census of Marine Life is a global network of researchers in 80+ nations engaged in a ten-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life in the world’s oceans - past, present and future. Conducting research in under-explored and well-studied habitats alike, in both coastal and deep waters, the Census is identifying new organisms, collecting new information on ocean life, analyzing historical documents, and modeling future ecosystems. This will enable scientists to compare what once lived in the oceans to what lives there now, and to project what will live there in the future. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life - past, present, and future - will be released in 2010.

Collaborator Contributions

Forces of Change in the Ocean

The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the Earth and is essential to all life. But forces of change, from overfishing to climate change, are affecting the ocean and humanity's relationship with it. The Census of Marine Life, a decade-long effort to study marine life in greater detail than ever before, is shedding new light on this dynamic relationship.

A Mosaic of Ocean Habitats: A Video by National Geographic and the Census of Marine Life

From the open ocean to coastal tidepools, from the fantastic to the familiar, a mosaic of marine habitats provides homes, feeding and spawning grounds, and seasonal destinations for ocean species. Census of Marine Life scientists studied these habitats and the creatures that call them home, in a ten-year inventory of the sea.  Explore some of the habitats that they studied in this video.

 

 

Creature Feature from the Census of Marine Life

In a decade long project, which ended in October 2010, scientists with the Census of Marine Life traveled the world cataloging the ocean’s life forms. From Australia to China to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond, these researchers documented tens of thousands of diverse creatures, which together form the chorus of life in the sea.

Census of Marine Life Video Release

As 10 years of intensive research draw to a close, the Census of Marine Life has released the most comprehensive inventory of life in the ocean to date. This landmark collection of scientific papers describes and documents marine life in 25 key ocean areas from the tropics to the poles, and will serve as a baseline for measuring future changes.

Sea Creatures from the Deep: A Video by National Geographic and the Census of Marine Life

The Census of Marine Life - a ten-year effort by scientists from around the world to answer the age-old question, “What lives in the sea?” It was an international effort to asses the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in our ocean, and the project offically concluded in October 2010.  

Visit Their site