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Marine scientists heading out on a month-long voyage to explore for the first time the deep waters off Australia's east coast, estimate that up to half of all animals they encounter will be new species or, at least, ones never seen in Australian waters.
Led by Museums Victoria, the international team of researchers will sample and film the cold, dark abyss that begins where Australia's continental shelf ends.
Research voyage set to uncover Australia's eastern abyss
An international team of 40 scientists will embark on a pioneering deep-sea research voyage that will uncover the mysterious life that inhabits the abyss off eastern Australia. Vision: Museum Victoria.
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Research voyage set to uncover Australia's eastern abyss
An international team of 40 scientists will embark on a pioneering deep-sea research voyage that will uncover the mysterious life that inhabits the abyss off eastern Australia. Vision: Museum Victoria.
It's an unknown world, largely populated by creatures science is yet to meet.
The pioneering expedition left Launceston on Monday. Over the coming month the 40 scientists on board will sample fish, sea stars, crabs and worms from up to four kilometres beneath the surface.
Tim O'Hara will be the chief scientist for the 'Sampling the Abyss' expedition. Photo: Matthew Newton/CSIRO
The team, made up of researchers from 14 institutions and seven countries, will also map the marine seascape for the first time including deep-sea valleys, undersea volcanoes and silty plateaus.
"No one has surveyed these areas, which is pretty weird because sometimes we're only going to be 100 kilometres off the coast," said Museums Victoria's Tim O'Hara, the chief scientist on the "Sampling the Abyss" mission.
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Among the larger creatures to call the depths home is Sloane's viperfish, which holds the world record for largest teeth relative to head size in a fish.
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Like many other deep-sea creatures, it's not what you would call classically good looking. But these are clever creatures, which have evolved over 40 million years to survive in harsh conditions where temperatures hover around 4-5 degrees and life is lived in almost complete darkness.
A deepsea lizardfish grows to almost 70 centimetres long. Photo: Dianne Bray
Another creature of the deep the anglerfish, for example, has evolved to create its own light source using bioluminescence.
Found a kilometre below the surface, the anglerfish uses the light which dangles from an antennae to attract prey. The light hovers just above its mouth.
The RV Investigator, CSIRO's $126 million research vessel, will be home to 40 scientists for the next month. Photo: Supplied
Researchers will use remote-controlled video cameras to gather footage and dredges to take samples. However a lot of the life lurking in the dark depths will be invisible to the naked eye.
"But they look amazing when you put them under the microscope," Dr O'Hara said. "They're all fangs and spines and blobs of jelly."