Why is it difficult to find all of the undiscovered species in the ocean?
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Another issue I haven’t seen mentioned is, we can’t just hang out in the middle of the ocean forever like we can live on land for long time. We don’t get as much time to look for them sj ce we always have to return to land for resources.
1. It’s a big ocean. Like 2/3 of the planet, and miles deep.
2. Most species live below the surface. Unless you’re in a submersible you’re not going to encounter them.
3. Many species live far beneath the surface where light doesn’t penetrate. It takes extra equipment (lights, sonar, etc) to even detect their presence, but coarse resolution makes it difficult to study their fine details.
4. Many species live way, way down in the ocean where pressures are extremely dangerous to humans. Going that deep even once is extremely expensive. Going that deep across the entire ocean surface is financially impossible.
In short, it’s relatively easy to discover a species on the surface because we can survive here long enough to encounter them.
Ocean big. Animals small.
We are constantly discovering new creatures on land where they are easy to get at. Add a third dimension, the inability to breath, and crushing pressure, and is it surprising we have found as much as we have.
I can think of a few reasons. One is that they tend to hang around the deeper parts of the ocean, and we just don’t have any super convenient way of exploring that. Another is that different species don’t necessarily look very different. They’re hiding in plain sight, so to speak.
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