The WA Museum exhibition taking a deep dive into the unknown
Deep below the surface of the Indian and Southern Oceans, a small team of Western Australian Museum scientists have devoted years to documenting new species of marine life.
Scientists behind discoveries of more than 500 new species documented in the last 20 years are getting a glimpse of life on a deep-sea expedition.
Head of aquatic zoology Dr. “Over the last decade, we have participated in or led seven deep-sea expeditions in Western Australia and nearby areas,” said Lisa Kykendale.
Expeditions spanned from Ashmore Reef to the Recherche Archipelago and Christmas Island.
Aquatic zoology curator Dr. Andrew Hoisie participated in the most trips among the science team members.
“Days at sea are much easier than they used to be. I’ve done some work with crawfish boats that do fishing monitoring, and these can be scary days at sea,” he said with a laugh.
Hoisie, who often partners with other organizations such as the CSIRO, said boats used for deep-sea work were large and “can handle smooth seas”.
Trips at sea can last up to 35 days and depths of up to 5000 meters.
As for why they went on these expeditions, the answer is black and white.
“From our perspective, it’s simple: we want to find out what we don’t know about,” Kykendale said.
“New records or species that are not only new to science, but also important fills that we didn’t know lived there. We’re kind of filling in a map to know how to best protect the inhabitants of our ocean property or ocean state.”
One of the discoveries brought back from an expedition was glass combs, also known as propeamussium alcocki.
The scallops, found on the cliff of Perth Canyon, about 20 to 60 kilometers west of Rottnest Island, have what can only be described as a backpack of marine life.
“Not only is this a glass clam, which is fascinating in its own right, but most of the time — that is, 90 percent of the cases — we have witnessed an anemone settling on the back of the scallop,” Kykendale said.
“So there’s a lot of sand in the cliff and not a lot of hard ground. So this is a prime area for them.” [to settle].”
It is called the Eye of Sauron due to its resemblance to the anemone. Lord of the Rings character.
One of the important tasks undertaken by the WA Museum science team is the taxonomy of species.
“Classification is essentially the definition of new life. It’s the process of naming,” Kykendale said.
“So if there’s a new type of tingling, when you think of it as something new, you actually have to do a lot of comparative studies to check whether it’s definitely new to science.
“You have to compare it with its most similar neighbor, which is usually found in the Natural History Museum in London. It’s a long process to take something you think is new (a discovery) and turn it into the description of a new species.”
Kykendale said it can take up to 20 years from when scientists get “excited about the first new species” to when it is published in the public scientific literature under a new name.
According to WA Museum science manager Dr Jennifer McIlwain, the classification work sets them apart from other museums in Australia.
“Classification is at the heart of biodiversity and supports it. You can’t fully understand something unless you put a name to it,” he said.
“What sets the museum apart from other research institutions, especially government research, is that we give animals these trusted names. So disciplines like ecology and conservation biology all rely on us, the taxonomists, to provide these names.”
In the invertebrate field, about 75 percent of the population remains anonymous, McIlwain said.
“So we have a lot of work to do,” he said.
a new exhibition
OceanXperience, a new interactive exhibition that recreates life aboard the OceanXplorer, opens at the WA Museum on April 4.
First launched in 2016, the ship is an exploration, research and media vessel that uncovers the wonders of the world’s uncharted waters.
Visitors to the exhibit will immerse themselves in the ship’s mission control, wet and dry laboratories, bridge, and lower hangar to see how scientific research occurs in real time.
Flanking the exhibition are discoveries found not on the OceanXplorer ship but on previous research expeditions by the WA Museum scientist team.
“We’ve never been on an OceanX expedition. But now that our paths have crossed, maybe we’d like to go on one,” Kykendale said.
WA Museum general manager Alec Coles describes the exhibition as “a complete change of pace” from the previous Terracotta Warriors exhibition.
“Western Australia has 12,000 kilometers of coastline. We have the whole of the Indian Ocean and actually south into the Southern Ocean, and we have the most amazing marine biodiversity there,” Coles said.
“So it’s very fitting for us to feature something like this, and the really cool thing is that it absolutely reinforces what the museum is all about.
“I would say that of all our scientific work, we’ve probably invested the most in marine biodiversity studies. So to be able to bring an international exhibition like this here and tie that into what we’re about in our own kind of DNA is really great.”
OceanXperience will run from April 4 to October 11.
