A giant siphonophore, seen in this image as a glowing swirl, was discovered in the deep sea off the coast of Western Australia in 2020. Researchers estimated the siphonophore’s length at 150 feet (45 meters).
Photo credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute

What’s the longest creature ever spotted in the oceans? If you answered “blue whale,” you’re probably in good company. After all, these giants of the deep can reach 100 feet (30 meters) in length. But in April, scientists using a remote-piloted submarine off the coast of Western Australia spotted a living thing over half again as long! The creature was a ropelike siphonophore estimated at 150 feet (45 meters) in length. The scientists were from the Western Australian Museum and the Schmidt Ocean Institute. They spotted the creature at a depth of about 2,000 feet (600 meters).

It gets even weirder—siphonophores are among the strangest animals found in the oceans. A siphonophore is not a single living thing. Rather, it is a colony of individual organisms, called zooids << ZOH oydz >> , arranged in a long string. All the zooids descend from a single initial zooid. Within the colony, each zooid serves a specialized function, such as movement, digestion, or reproduction. The body of the colony is jellylike and fragile, and individual zooids may easily become separated. However, a zooid cannot survive in separation from the colony. Siphonophores challenge traditional ideas about what it means to be an individual. Each zooid is a distinct organism, a clone of the original zooid. However, the entire colony functions much like a single living thing.

Orange siphonophore
Credit: Hidden Sea Expedition 2005/NOAA/OAR/OER

August 4, 2016

Maps in The World Book Encyclopedia tend to show bodies of water in blue, and, despite the many colors of water we see every day—blue, brown, gray, green, white, clear, or even iridescent—we generally accept that blue represents water. Along the south coast of Western Australia, however, two naturally pink lakes challenge that color representation. The pink lakes lie on the rugged coast near Esperance and on nearby Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago. The traditionally blue waters of the Great Australian Bight (a large bay in the southeastern Indian Ocean) contrast strongly against the vivid pinks of the lakes. (more…)

May 20, 2016

Dinosaur lovers know that a huge asteroid played a significant role in the ancient animal group’s extinction. An asteroid 65 million years ago led to the extinction of all dinosaurs except birds. But many other asteroids have struck Earth, some of them even larger than the one that ended the dinosaurs’ reign at the end of the Cretaceous. A team of researchers led by Andrew Glikson of the Australian National University has discovered evidence of an impact billions of years ago that was so colossal that it reshaped the very face of the earth. They published their findings in the journal Precambrian Research.

The impact from a huge asteroid that struck Earth some 3.5 billion years ago would have vaporized the space rock, leaving behind tiny glass spherules. (The spherules are the tiny spots to the left of blue markers giving sizes in microns.) Credit: © A. Glikson, Australian National University

An asteroid is a rocky or metallic object smaller than a planet that orbits a star. Scientists think that asteroids are made up of material left over from the formation of the solar system. Such processes as erosion and volcanic activity have altered the planets and moons. But much of the material in asteroids is almost unchanged. Sometimes, these objects cross paths with Earth. The atmosphere protects the Earth from most asteroid strikes. Air friction will disintegrate an asteroid smaller than about 160 feet (50 meters) in diameter before it can reach the surface. But larger objects can reach Earth, forming impact craters and causing other damage.

Glikson and his team studied sediments in Marble Bar, Western Australia. The region has some of the oldest sediment on Earth. They analyzed small glass beads called spherules and determined that they formed from material vaporized during a huge impact event. They dated the impact to have occurred about 3.5 billion years ago. Other metals consistent with those found in asteroids were also discovered in the sediment. The team estimated that the asteroid measured 12 to 18 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) across. An impact with such an object would have caused earthquakes greater than magnitude 10 on the Richter scale and sent tsunamis hundreds of feet (or meters) high crashing to shore.

This asteroid struck an Earth that was very different from the one we know today. Although such an impact would have wrecked entire ecosystems if it occurred today (or in the time of the dinosaurs), there was very little life to disrupt 3.5 billion years ago. Life probably formed around the same time as the impact and consisted of water-dwelling, single-celled organisms. There was no life on land. Earth also looked nothing like it does today. Since the impact, the actions of plate tectonics have continuously reshaped the planet and destroyed the crater left by the asteroid. Thus, scientists will probably never learn where it struck. But the research done by Glikson and his team will help us better understand the history of the early solar system and the conditions on Earth just as life got its start.

April 26, 2012

The government of the state of  Western Australia has announced plans to create a nearly 2,700-square-mile (7,000-square-kilometer) marine park about 185 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of Broome. The goal is to ensure greater conservation of the region’s Kimberley Coast. Less than 1 percent of this coastal area currently falls under government protection.

The Camden Sound Marine Park is designed to protect and conserve the Kimberley Coast's marine life, including coral reefs. (Image courtesy of Doug Perrine, Innerspace Visions)

The proposed Camden Sound Marine Park will be made up of several different zones: a “special purpose” zone for the protection of the estimated 22,000 humpback whales that live in the area during their calving season; a “wilderness fishing” zone, in which recreational fishers must release or eat their catch before leaving; and two “sanctuary” zones around the Champagny Islands and Montgomery Reef. The park contains areas of seagrass, coral reefs, tidal flats, and mangrove forests. It serves as a habitat for a wide variety of species, including dolphins, crocodiles, and dugongs.

Such conservation groups such as the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and the Pew Environment Group support the project, but not everyone is satisfied. Australian Member of Parliament Sally Talbot–currently parliamentary secretary to the Minister for the Environment–strongly objects to the inclusion of any commercial fishing in the protected area. As currently planned, 23 percent of the park will be closed to all commercial fishing, and 48 percent will be closed to commercial trawl fishing. Trawl fishing involves the use of weighted, funnel-shaped nets that are dragged along the ocean bottom. Critics note that the practice damages the sea floor and often results in the catching of undersized or protected fish.

The park, which is expected to be created by mid-2012, is the first of four marine parks planned for the area. It will be managed jointly by the state government and traditional owners, including the Dambimangari and Uunguu peoples.

Additional World Book articles:

• Coral Reefs in Peril: A Special Report
• Paradise Found: A Special Report