The Nekton Maldives Mission, involving researchers from the University of Oxford, has found evidence of a previously undescribed ecosystem - ‘The Trapping Zone’ - that is creating an oasis of life 500 metres down in the depths of the Indian Ocean.
The Nekton Maldives Mission, involving researchers from the University of Oxford, has found evidence of a previously undescribed ecosystem - ‘The Trapping Zone’ - that is creating an oasis of life 500 metres down in the depths of the Indian Ocean. The discovery has been hailed as highly significant by the Maldives Government.
Video evidence from Nekton science cameras aboard the Omega Seamaster II submersible, combined with collected biological samples and extensive sonar mapping, indicate that in this zone predators such as sharks and other large fish feed on swarms of small organisms known as micro-nekton. These are marine organisms that can swim independently of the current and typically migrate from the deep sea to the surface at night and dive back into the deep at dawn (known as The Vertical Migration). But in this area, the micro-nekton become trapped against the subsea landscape at the 500m mark.
The volcanic subsea strata and fossilised carbonate reefs which form the base of Maldivian atolls combine steep vertical cliffs and shelving terraces. These appear to be the reason that these species are prevented from diving any deeper as the sun rises. The trapped animals are then targeted by large pelagic predators, including schools of tuna and sharks, along with well-known, large deep-water fish including the spiky oreo and alfonsino. Tiger sharks, gill sharks, sand tiger sharks, dog fish, gulper sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, silky sharks and the very rare bramble shark were all documented by the mission.
Read more at University of Oxford
Photo Credit: Suissgirl via Pixabay
