Biodiversity is the variety of life in all its forms. In the marine realm it is magnificent; there is beauty and wonder in biological data. Marine biodiversity exceeded that on land for 3.6 of the planet's 4.6 billion year history. The ocean has about 900 times more ‘liveable’ volume than land.

The deep sea is the least explored of all marine habitats though it occupies at least two thirds of our planet. And despite a quarter of a millennia describing species, and over 1.8 million species described, it is thought that only 16% of named species are marine. An estimated 33 to 91% species in our oceans remain uncollected or undescribed. Slimy at times, perhaps, but consistently awe-inspiring.

John Spicer