Plenty More Fish in the Sea?

How many fish in the sea? Well that simple question inspired a team of scientists to carry out the most comprehensive census of marine life ever, which has revealed a staggering 230,000 species of marine life including 1200 new species. The team of 360 scientists carried out the survey in 25 locations worldwide over the past 10 years. The results show that the most common sea creatures are crustaceans, which account for nearly 20% of the world's marine species. Crustaceans include animals such as crabs, lobsters, krill and barnacles. Interestingly, the species often used in conservation campaigning – whales, sea lions, turtles and sea birds – account for less than 2% of the species in the world's oceans according to the study. Scientists do warn, however, that there may be mass extinctions in the world's oceans should the temperature continue to increase. But populations are more greatly affected by over-fishing, habitat destruction from coastal development, pollution, trawling as well as other human activities. Below is a short video from National Geographic about the census.