News from Deep-Sea Biology

The 11th International Deep-Sea Biology Symposium is underway, and there's a lot to talk about.

A new objection is being raised to whaling. Scientists have recently identified no fewer than 28 new species that depend on the mini-environments created when naturally dead whales drift down to the seafloor. Meanwhile, a strange disease is wreaking havoc on mussel colonies around deep-sea vents, and there's a new understanding of why, although most deep-sea creatures are very small, there are a few abyssal giants like the squid Architeuthis.