Thousands of new marine species discovered

On day five of creation, God made all the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky. It says in Genesis 1:21 that the "waters swarmed after their kind." Now, some of those "swarming" sea creatures are being discovered for the very first time. According to the Associated Press,

A report released Sunday recorded 17,650 species living below 656 feet, the point where sunlight ceases. The findings were the latest update on a 10-year census of marine life.

"Parts of the deep sea that we assumed were homogenous are actually quite complex," said Robert S. Carney, an oceanographer at Louisiana State University and a lead researcher on the deep seas.

Thousands of marine species eke out an existence in the ocean's pitch-black depths by feeding on the snowlike decaying matter that cascades down — even sunken whale bones. Oil and methane also are an energy source for the bottom-dwellers, the report said.

The researchers have found about 5,600 new species on top of the 230,000 known.

Some of the newly discovered marine life includes tentacled transparent sea cucumbers and primitive organisms that flap with "Dumbo-like" fins. Man's exploration of the deep sea is revealing some fascinating and funny surprises.

"The deep sea was considered a desert until not so long ago; it's quite amazing to have documented close to 20,000 forms of life in a zone that was thought to be barren," said Jesse Ausubel with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

For more information on this deep sea census, visit the Census of Marine Life website.

Praise God for His magnificent and diverse creation! I believe He takes genuine pleasure in projects like this, where humans seek to subdue and understand the earth where He has placed us.

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