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

Written byBob Grant
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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.
**__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/
[22nd April 2009]*linkurl:Ancient eyes head for the light;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55204/
[19th November 2008]
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Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

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