Video: The oceans of old
In the distant past giant cod (1.5 meters long) ruled the North Sea. Southern oceans boiled with massive pods of right whales. Gangs of 4-meter-long porpoises cavorted off the British Isles. These are but a few of the surprises turned up by an international team of marine researchers who scoured old ship logs, fishbone-littered middens, Latin and Greek verse, tax accounts, dusty legal documents, and even mounted trophies to paint a picture of oceans past. Marine scientists compiled the data as
Bob Grant
Bob Grant is Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer.
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May 23, 2009
In the distant past giant cod (1.5 meters long) ruled the North Sea. Southern oceans boiled with massive pods of right whales. Gangs of 4-meter-long porpoises cavorted off the British Isles. These are but a few of the surprises turned up by an international team of marine researchers who scoured old ship logs, fishbone-littered middens, Latin and Greek verse, tax accounts, dusty legal documents, and even mounted trophies to paint a picture of oceans past. Marine scientists compiled the data as part of the Census of Marine Life project, a 10-year initiative that seeks to describe the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans (both past and present) by 2010. They will present their findings at linkurl:The Census of Marine Life Oceans Past II Conference,;http://www.hmapcoml.org/oceanspast/ from May 26-28, in Vancouver. Check out a video describing the research.
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[13th May 2009]*linkurl:Earliest fossil seal found;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55653/...
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:Big ocean, small RNAs;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55689/
[13th May 2009]*linkurl:Earliest fossil seal found;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55653/...
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