Secrets of New Zealand's unexplored Bounty Trough

It’s estimated that between 1-2 million species inhabit our ocean, a staggering 75-90% remain undiscovered.

This is an expedition to discover new species in one of the most remote parts of the deep ocean.

“Most of the area we're surveying is still a mystery. It’s fascinating because it's right between the Chatham Rise and the Sub Antarctic Zone, with a unique mix of conditions for discovering new marine fauna.

Scientists on an expedition to the underexplored Bounty Trough off New Zealand have discovered around 100 new and potentially new ocean species.

The three-week voyage on NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa was the first flagship Southern Hemisphere expedition for Ocean Census, a global alliance to accelerate the discovery and protection of life in the ocean founded by The Nippon Foundation and UK ocean exploration foundation Nekton.

Led by Ocean Census, NIWA and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, a team of scientists spent 21 days investigating the unexplored Bounty Trough ocean system off the coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

The voyage starts around the continental slope and canyons off the Otago coast, before heading down the 800km long Bounty Channel (at depths of 1500–4800m) towards the Bounty Fan and ultimately the Southwest pacific abyssal plain.


Learn more on the Ocean Census website - https://oceancensus.org/expeditions/b...




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