Scientists find immense creature
2,100m below surface of the ocean
Researcher: ‘It’s probably in the
order of centuries to millennia old’
Saturday 28 May 201614.20 BSTLast
modified on Saturday 28 May 201615.49 BST
Deep sea scientists exploring the
remote waters between Hawaii and
Midway atoll have found a gigantic sea sponge “about the size of a minivan”
that could be the oldest animal on earth.
“It’s probably on the order of
centuries to millennia old,” lead researcher Daniel Wagner told the Guardian.
The sponge, the largest on record, is “about 12ft wide and 7ft long” he said,
“so about the size of a minivan”.
The creature was discovered about
2,100m (7,000ft) down, in a marine conservation area between north-western
Hawaii and Midway. The area is largely unexplored, Wagner said, and “over 98%
of the area of this monument is below 100m, so below something that we would ever
be able to dive through with scuba diving”.
A remote-operated submersible
found the sponge while exploring the depths of the Papahānaumokuākea marine
park. Cast into the sub’s lights, the sponge’s brain-like folds appear in a
pale, nearly white shade of blue.
Scientists described the animal
this week, in the journal Marine Biodiversity.
Wagner said they could not be
sure of the sponge’s age, since the animals lack growth rings found in corals
that are similar to terrestrial trees.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!