Oceans And Climate: Pioneering Research Into Deep-sea Ecosystems

Dr. Laura Robinson, Dr Kate Hendry and Maricel Williams from University of Bristol will talk about "Oceans and climate: pioneering research into deep-sea ecosystems"

Complex ecosystems thrive beneath the waves. Near the sea surface, planktonic creatures lock up energy from the sun, and feed familiar grazers and predators such as fish, whales and sea-birds. Diving deeper into the dark abyss, there are biological systems that live away from the light, which people have only just begun to explore. These extraordinary ecosystems rely on food sinking from the surface, or forms of energy that don’t originate from the sun. Hundreds of metres below the sea surface, there are gardens of simple animals that feed on little sinking particles including deep-sea corals and sponges, among which beasts crawl and swim – shrimp, crabs, fish, and sharks. Although we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of how these organisms interact, we know from the fossil record that they are very sensitive to climatic and oceanic changes, such as changes in temperature and acidification.

Join us as we take a swim through these deep-sea ecosystems. We’ll be showing some amazing video footage that was collected during our research into these unique systems, and tell you about what we’re finding out about how these creatures have responded to climate change in the past, and what their future might hold.

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