The first –ever Census of Marine Life(CoML), involving more than 2,700 scientists from over 80 countries, has been successfully completed. The painstaking research has unearthed nearly 250,000. Marine species of an estimated one million. About 6,000 new species have also been discovered. Ten marine hotspots were identified, including one in Indian Ocean; many biodiversity hotspots await detailed investigation. The scope of the study is undefined. Thus the CoML provides an ideal platform for incorporating diverse inputs from future studies to help us understand the big picture. It will also serve as the baseline for evaluation the future impact of human intervention on sea animals.
One finding of the study which is a cause for concern is that large fishes and marine mammals like sea turtles and tuna have declined by 90 percent on an average due to over fishing and or pollution.
Prof. John Kurakar
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