Maldives (Commonwealth Union) – Marine ecosystems play an essential role in the environment as a large proportion of oxygen is derived from it, while sustaining marine life.
The Nekton Maldives Mission, involving researchers from the University of Oxford, made a positive discovery with proof of a prior undescribed ecosystem – ‘The Trapping Zone’ – that is forming an oasis of life 500m deep into the Indian Ocean. The discovery was described as highly significant by the Maldivian authorities.
The proof was gathered from Nekton science cameras aboard the Omega Seamaster II submersible, together with collected biological samples and large-scale sonar mapping, demonstrate that within this zone predators such as sharks and other large fish consume swarms of small organisms described as micro-nekton. These marine organisms are able to swim independently of the current and typically move from the deep sea to the surface at night and re-enter the deep at dawn. However, in this area, the micro-nekton gets caught against the subsea landscape at the 500m mark.
Professor Alex Rogers of the University of Oxford was underwater for more than 30 hours in the mission’s submersibles monitoring ‘The Trapping Zone’. During the expedition, Professor Rogers stated that the Trapping Zone is forming an oasis of life in the Maldives and there is a good possibility it exists in other oceanic islands as well as on the slopes of continents.
Although a trapping effect was linked with biodiversity hotspots on subsea mountains or seamounts, it had no prior association to the various geomorphology and biological parameters of oceanic islands, such as the Maldives.
Maldivian President His Excellency, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, said: “The discovery of ‘The Trapping Zone’ and the oasis of life in the depths surrounding the Maldives provides us with critical new knowledge that further supports our conservation commitments and sustainable ocean management, and almost certainly support fisheries and tourism.”
