First census of marine life reveals thousands of new species

"The Census of Marine Life, a ten-year project to catalog all life in the sea, discovered more than 6,000 new species during its “decade of discovery,” scientists reported as they unveiled its results at a finale event in London Oct. 4-6. The collaboration combined the efforts of scientists from research organizations in more than 80 nations, including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)....Results from all Census of Marine Life cruises are entered into the newly-created Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) database, the world’s largest open access, online repository of spatially referenced marine life data. The data are also shared with the Encyclopedia of Life, the World Register of Marine Species, and the Marine Barcode of Life, and Catalogue of Life projects...."