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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