Joint expedition team Indonesia - United States (U.S.) in three weeks had found dozens of species of plants and animals under the sea archipelago. Apparently these species have never seen it immortalized in a video camera and photographs.
Using the vessel Okeanos Explorer from the U.S. and Baruna Jaya IV of Indonesia, the expedition team has ended the mission on 14 August. After seeing some photos and video recordings, Thursday, August 26, 2010, the research team estimates that there are at least 50 species of plants and animals that have never been seen before.
The scientists were impressed with this discovery, and recognizes that Indonesia has a wealth of incredible marine resources. "During his career as a researcher I just saw some endangered species. But on this expedition, I was amazed at the incredible diversity of species," says Verena Tunnicliffe. professor from the University of Victoria in Canada after seeing a number of images that recorded the expedition team.
Timothy Shank of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts revealed that he and his team managed to record more than 150,000 high-definition video footage.
"I felt there were at least 40 new species of deep sea corals and at least 50 new species are similar to shrimp, clams, sponges, mussels, and others," said Shank.
However, confirmation that the species was really new seems to require further research and it could take many years. Expedition team using advanced sonar mapping systems and robot vehicles for exploring the seabed in an area of 54 000 square kilometers in the waters of Sangihe Talaud, the northern part of Indonesia.
