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Madagascar, that large island you see off the east coast of Africa, is a remarkably unique and, conversely, typical place. What is special about Madagascar is the good news. And what is not so special is the bad news. First the good news.
Being somewhat isolated, Madagascar can act as a gigantic evolutionary petri dish, bringing forth a variety of animals that are found nowhere else. According to MSNBC, since 1999 scientists have discovered as many 615 new species, ranging from Berthe's mouse lemur - the world's smallest primate weighing in at one ounce - to lizards with tree bark-like camouflage to a whole host of plants. "All the species are so special, and many are unique to Madagascar," said Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, conservation director for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Madagascar. "They don't exist anywhere else in the world."
With something new being discovered almost on a weekly basis, this island - the fourth largest island in the world - has, in little over a decade, provided scientists with 17 new species of fish, 41 mammals, 61 reptiles, 69 amphibians, 42 invertebrates, and 385 plants.
I have a niece, Kathryn Theiss, who is a botanist and has spent a considerable amount of time in Madagascar studying species of orchids. She must be in heaven every time she's there in the field. But heaven can be fleeting and this is what makes Madagascar typical. Now, the bad news.
Like many other developing nations, many of Madagascar's plant and animal species are at risk or out right endangered because of the subsistence-level needs of the people - from farming to 
poaching for exotic animals. For most of the Malagasy people, wood is their primary source of energy. And a growing population demands farmland. So, deforestation is a major problem. From 1950 to 1990, the forests were cleared at a rate of 2 percent a year. While the level of deforestation has decreased by as much as half since then, the damage had been done and the island's total forest acreage has been reduced by as much as 90 percent.
"The sad part is that there could be many species that will disappear before they are discovered," Ratsifandrihamanana said.
So there is a race taking place in Madagascar, with continuing advances in scientific study methods allowing for ever-increasing numbers of new species to be identified, while the accelerating degradation of the forests threaten more and more species with extinction. The WWF continues to work in Madagascar to both assist the scientists and bring the issue of deforestation to the people on a local level.
"We're really trying to empower local communities so they are better managers of the resources, because they are the ones who make the daily decisions for how they will use the forest," observed Ratsifandrihamanana.
WWF has its work cut out for itself. To educate the populace to better conserve their isolated and precious resources, the overall economic situation must improve, and Madagascar is considered one of the poorest nations on the planet with an unsettled government (a coup occurred in 2009). But whatever progress is achieved would be worth the effort.
OurAmazingPlanet recently listed eight of the world's most endangered places - and Madagascar made the list. A dubious distinction for an evolutionary jewel that can provide scientists with knowledge about the development of species that could be transferred to how we can best preserve plants and animals worldwide. What a tragedy it would be if Madagascar's only legacy was to serve as a lasting reminder of what can happen when mankind takes without giving back.
Deep ocean trenches represent a kind of aquatic dark-side-of-the-moon environment of which we know very little. In recent years, attention has been focused on thermal vents that exist in some deep water trenches and the amazing sealife that was found to be thriving in conditions that previously were believed to be hostile to any form of life. However, thermal vents are not the only source of life in the blackness of the deepest depths.
The BBC Earth News recently reported on an expedition team from the University of Aberdeen that has been investigating life in several deep ocean trenches in the southeastern Pacific Ocean off of Chile and Peru. In one particular trench that was over 26,000 feet (8,000m) deep, a new species of snailfish was discovered at 23,000 feet (7,000m).
At these depths, much of the sealife leads a scavenger existence, feeding on the remains that float down from above. In shallower areas, dead animals that come to rest on the bottom are consumed by a variety of crustaceans, bottom-feeding fish, and even sharks. At very deep depths, basically the same process occurs but with animals that have adapted to the pressure and total lack of light. It's a bleak existence with very little if any vegetation, so scavenging or feeding on the scavengers themselves is the key to survival.
The snailfish is one who feeds on the scavengers, crustaceans mainly. Although it has eyes, they are aren't of much use, so the snailfish has an extended lateral line system with sensory pores around its head which allow it to sense subtle vibrations in the water.
"When they sense movement, they suck in all the water in front of them in the hope that there are crustaceans in that water," said Dr Alan Jamieson, who lead the University's expedition.
While other animals that cruise deep open waters often utilize light-emitting organs to attract and catch prey, bottom-feeders are less attracted to those types of lures. So other sensory skills for hunting have evolved, like the snailfish's lateral line enhancement. There are over 195 species of snailfish, found in various depths in colder waters closer to the Arctic and Antarctic. They are similar to sculpin with elongated bodies, big heads, and large pectoral fins.
The University plans to conduct additional studies in the northwestern Pacific's Japan Trench. It was in the Japan Trench, in 2008, that the University, in conjunction with the University of Tokyo, discovered a species of snailfish at a depth of over 25,000 feet (7.7km), making it the deepest known fish.
The majority of the ocean exists in darkness and at great depths. While more abundant or colorful marine ecosystems in shallower waters might catch our attention, scientists know that these abyssal depths play an important role in the ocean's entire life cycle. We need to understand that role better and how it might be impacted or changing due to atmospheric and ecological changes occurring closer to the surface.
Read the BBC Earth News article.
Perhaps you have heard it said that over 75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water but that we have explored less than 5% of the world's oceans. Some have said we know more about the backside of the moon than we do about the ocean depths right here at home.
Whenever scientists pull back the curtain and gaze into the depths, something new is always discovered - a new species, a new geographical formation, or a new process invaluable towards understanding the complex inner workings of marine ecosystems.
The renown U.K. research vessel, RRS James Cook, has recently released pictures taken of several potential new species from the ocean depths along the northern portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Using the ROV named ISIS, which was able to view the creatures alive and free swimming at depths as deep as 8800 feet (2700m), researchers from the University of Aberdeen noted the marked differences in sealife on either side of a 10-mile wide span of the ridge (where northern cold waters meet warmer southern waters).
Click here to view a series of images taken by ISIS, published in the Guardian.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge actually is the meeting of two major tectonic plates in the Atlantic Ocean 
and runs a considerable distance beginning near Greenland and extending all the way into the South Atlantic, below Africa. Along the way, there are deep trenches and mountain ridges. In the past, scientists have trawled the bottom to see what type of animals live there, but such methods often did considerable damage to the specimens. With today's advanced submersibles and ROVs, researchers are now able to see these animals unharmed and living in their natural environment.
The deep oceans are a major part of the macro-marine ecosystem and so it is important that we study and gain a better understanding of these mysterious regions as to how they survive, how they interact with and impact shallower bodies of water, and how our activities can affect these great depths which, in turn, could alter the overall health of the oceans and the planet.
Madagascar, that large island you see off the east coast of Africa, is a remarkably unique and, conversely, typical place. What is special about Madagascar is the good news. And what is not so special is the bad news. First the good news.
poaching for exotic animals. For most of the Malagasy people, wood is their primary source of energy. And a growing population demands farmland. So, deforestation is a major problem. From 1950 to 1990, the forests were cleared at a rate of 2 percent a year. While the level of deforestation has decreased by as much as half since then, the damage had been done and the island's total forest acreage has been reduced by as much as 90 percent.
"We're really trying to empower local communities so they are better managers of the resources, because they are the ones who make the daily decisions for how they will use the forest," observed Ratsifandrihamanana.
