WE OFTEN kid ourselves that we know all about planet Earth. But the truth is that we have only the dimmest idea about much of the green and blue smear on its surface where life is concentrated. Particularly the blue bit. The oceans remain an alien world, and the past year has brought home that ignorance with renewed force.
“One has to be humble,” said Jesse Ausubel, director of the Census of Marine Life project, an international collaboration of marine scientists. After 10 years’ work, the project has delivered its first, preliminary report. Marine species are being discovered at the rate of about 35 a week, the team announced, and there are…
