Researchers from the University of Oxford, as part of the Nekton Maldives Mission, have discovered evidence of an ecosystem called “The Trapping Zone” that is fostering an oasis of life 500 meters beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean. The Maldives government has welcomed the discovery as being of the utmost importance.
According to sonar mapping, biological samples, and video evidence from the Omega Seamaster II submersible’s nekton scientific cameras, predators like sharks and other large fish feed on swarms of tiny organisms known as micro-nekton. These aquatic creatures can swim against the current and often migrate from the deep water to the surface at night before returning to the depths in the morning (known as the Vertical Migration). However, at 500 meters, the micro-nekton in this region gets pinned up against the subaqueous terrain.
The Maldivian atolls’ volcanic subsea layers and fossilized carbonate reefs are composed of shelving terraces and high vertical cliffs. These seem to be the cause of these animals’ inability to dive further when the sun rises. Huge pelagic predators such as schools of tuna, sharks, and well-known, large deep-water fish like the spiky oreo (called after the biscuit) and albonsino subsequently go after the trapped animals. The mission took notes on tiger sharks, gill sharks, sand tiger sharks, dogfish, gulper sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, silky sharks, and the very rare bramble shark.
Both the geography and the marine organisms in the ocean define marine ecosystems. Professor Alex Rogers (University of Oxford), who has spent more than 30 hours in the mission’s submersibles monitoring “The Trapping Zone” during the expedition, stated that “This has all the signs of a separate new ecosystem.” The Maldives are becoming an oasis of life thanks to the trapping zone, which is also quite likely to exist on other oceanic islands and the sides of continents.
According to Lucy Woodall, Principal Scientist at Nekton and Associate Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Oxford, “We’re particularly curious at this depth — why is this occurring?” What is this transition, what is there, and why is there one at 500 meters? Does this life go much deeper? The crucial question that needs to be asked next is that Why are we experiencing the patterns that this trip has revealed? Because of this, we will be able to learn a lot more about the deep ocean.
Even though a trapping effect has been related to biodiversity hotspots on subsea mountains or seamounts, it has not yet been connected to the unique geomorphology and biological characteristics of oceanic islands like the Maldives.
Analysis of the video and biological data is currently underway in the Maldives, Oxford, the UK headquarters of Nekton, and other partner laboratories. The discovery may have significant ramifications for managing sustainable fisheries; burying and storing carbon; managing the slopes of continents and other oceanic islands; and ultimately mitigating climate change.
The president of the Maldives, H.E. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, said that the discovery of “The Trapping Zone” and the oasis of life in the ocean depths around the Maldives “provides us with critical new knowledge that further supports our commitments to conservation and sustainable ocean management, and almost certainly helps fisheries and tourism.”
The Nekton Maldives Mission is organized and run by Nekton, a non-profit research organization with offices in Oxford’s Begbroke Science Park. The initiative is a collaboration between the Maldives government, Nekton, the University of Oxford, as well as a dozen local organizations and a global alliance of technology, charity, media, and scientific partners. The first comprehensive study of ocean life in the Maldives will be carried out from the surface to 1,000 meters below the surface, with the aim of informing conservation and sustainable development policy. Almost nothing about what was below 30 meters of depth in this area was known before the mission.
“The Maldives Mission has been co-created and co-produced with our Maldivian colleagues to satisfy national goals with all data and biological samples owned and vested by the Maldives,” said Oliver Steeds, Chief Executive and Mission Director of Nekton. Research team from the University of Oxford serves as the foundation for Nekton’s scientific leadership, and it is this scientific partnership between the Maldives and Oxford that is key to the mission’s success and long-term impact.
The mission sailed on September 4 and spent 34 days at sea. Other findings so far from the mission include:
Ancient beach lines: Terracing and wave erosion at depths of 122 meters, 101 meters, 94 meters, 84 meters, and 55 meters showed that the sea level had risen since the end of the last glacial maximum 20,000 years ago. This caused different beach lines to appear.
Coral reefs: To help guide the Maldives government’s conservation and management policies, the mission thoroughly mapped, surveyed, and determined the location, health, and resilience of coral reefs in six key areas. The Maldives’ reefs are vital to life and aid in minimizing the effects of storm frequency and severity increases as well as sea level rise brought on by climate change.
A deep-sea refuge: An underwater haven For the first time in the Maldives, the team conducted a thorough survey of the Rariphotic Zone, which is home to coral reefs, animals, and other creatures, some of which are very likely to be brand-new species to science, at depths ranging from 120 meters to 300 meters.
