Come down, down, down to the Sea with me

Come down, down, down to the Sea with me

When you look down at the sea, do you wonder what lies beneath the surface waters? The ocean’s dark waters hold many mysteries and secrets yet to be revealed.

Earth’s oceans are vast, covering more than 70% of Planet. How much of the oceans to you think we’ve mapped? 50%? More? Less?

Would it surprise you to know that to date we have only mapped about 10% of the floor of Earth’s oceans! That’s much, much less than we’ve mapped of the surface of the Moon (98.2% mapped) or even Mars (86% mapped).

One of the most recognized features on the sea floor is the tropical coral reef. For most of human history they were the only corals we knew. They are amazingly beautiful, and now endangered, threatened by heating waters and man-made pollution.

Although deep-sea cold-water corals have been known to exist for almost 200 years, it’s only recently, only in the 21^st Century that we have gotten an inkling of the global extent of cold-water coral reefs and their ecosystems. These corals live at depths between 40 and 3000 meters, or the ones we’ve found so far do. Many live below the depth where sunshine reaches or photosynthesis occur – about 200 meters, yet flora and fauna from giant to microscopic are at home there. Some of these reefs have been actively growing for 40,000 years. We are finding that these kinds of corals span the globe.

Please join us to explore some of these wonders of the deep using the marvellous immersive power of Second Life to experience our evolving knowledge of these wonders. Our STEM Island site is modelled on the deep cold of the Norwegian Sea. What you will find is a sampling of what has been found there…so far.

If you want to suit up for this even, come a little early if you want to get a wetsuit from the freebie box.

A presentation/field trip with Linda M. Kelley