PREVIEW

Scientists exploring off the coast of Chile have discovered more than 100 never-before-seen species.

The ‘mind-blowing’ find was made by scientists exploring huge underwater mountains during a mission led by the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Among the species were deep-sea corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, amphipods, squat lobsters, and other species likely new to science.

The expedition explored the Salas y Gómez Ridge; a massive chain of underwater mountains over 2,900 kilometres long.

Scientists also searched two of Chile’s marine protected areas, the Juan Fernandez and Nazca-Desventuradas marine parks.

“We far exceeded our hopes on this expedition,” commented Dr Javier Sellanes, who led the expedition.

“You always expect to find new species in these remote and poorly explored areas, but the amount we found, especially for some groups like sponges, is mind-blowing,” he added.

Using underwater robots capable of reaching depths of 4,500 metres, experts were able to map 52,777 square kilometres of seafloor.

One of the four underwater mountains they discovered, stands at 3,530 metres and was given the unofficial name ‘Solito’ by the science team.

The expedition is ongoing, with deeper depths being explored. Underwater dives can even be watched on Schmidt Ocean Institute’s YouTube channel where scientists will explore areas deeper than 600 metres for the first time.

“Full species identification can take many years, and Dr. Sellanas and his team have an incredible number of samples from this amazingly beautiful and little-known biodiversity hotspot,” said Schmidt Ocean Institute executive director, Dr. Jyotika Virmani.

Virmani continued, “Schmidt Ocean Institute is a partner with the Nippon Foundation – Nekton Ocean Census Program, which has set a target of finding 100,000 new marine species in the next ten years and once identified, these new species will be a part of that."