Today we were joined by Prof. Alex David Rogers who gave a seminar entitled “Exploring and Exploiting Deep-Ocean Biodiversity Hotspots.” Alex is Science director of REV Ocean and Visiting professor at the Department of Zoology at University of Oxford. The deep ocean is a vast, undiscovered ecosystem which has only been explored since the last 150 years since the first modern oceanographic expedition of HMS Challenger. Prof. Alex Rogers discussed three important habitats in the deep ocean- hydrothermal vents, seamounts and the abyssal plains. An important expedition to the Southern Ocean vents provided insights into the biogeographic distribution of vent fauna- helping to identify 11 distinct provinces of vent fauna around the world. Seamounts are underwater mountains and are rich biodiversity hotspots covering 4.7% of the seafloor. Human activity such as deep-sea trawling on seamounts have been found to destroy the rich biodiversity such as coral communities. Furthermore, both seamounts and hydrothermal vents, as well as the abyssal plains have been the focus of a controversial deep sea mining activities in recent years. Over 600 scientists as well as companies have asked for a moratorium on deep sea mining as long term impacts remain poorly understood. Prof. Rogers highlighted the need for fundamental basic knowledge and understanding about deep sea biodiversity. We would like to cordially thank him for an informative and insightful seminar on all things deep!
Thank you to all those who could join from many different time zones and for your questions! This is the last seminar of 2021 due to the upcoming holiday season but see you in 2022!
