Science
They descend to a depth of 1,054 meters in the Caribbean and a dark shadow leaves scientists stunned
In a recent fact-finding mission near the Cayman Islands, researchers made a startling deep-sea discovery.
A team of researchers in the Caribbean made an unprecedented discovery while exploring the depths of the ocean near Little Cayman, one of the three islands that make up the Cayman Islands.
Using deep-sea baited remote underwater systems (dBRUVS), the scientists lowered a camera to a depth of 1,054 meters (nearly 3,500 feet), with a view to studying the marine biodiversity in this remote region. What they captured on film astonished even the most seasoned experts.
The footage, captured in August 2023, revealed several specimens of the roughskin dogfish (Centroscymnus owstonii), a little-known deep-sea shark species.
Roughskin dogfish sighting a first
This marks a scientific milestone: it’s the first time this species has been recorded in the central Caribbean Sea and near the Cayman Islands.
Olivia Dixon, the lead researcher and a member of the nonprofit organization Beneath The Waves, has emphasized the significance of this discovery.
“One of Earth’s least explored regions”
“Understanding species distributions in the deep sea, one of Earth’s least explored regions, is essential for guiding evidence-based conservation and habitat protection policies,” Dixon said in a social-media post.
The findings, published recently in the Journal of Fish Biology, expand our knowledge of the global distribution of the roughskin dogfish, whose presence had previously been documented only sporadically through incidental captures.
The study’s authors note that these observations highlight the value of remote video systems in enhancing our understanding of the biology and diversity of deep-sea sharks.
Article originally written in Spanish, before being translated with the assistance of AI, and edited by William Allen.
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