In the distant past giant cod (1.5 meters long) ruled the North Sea. Southern oceans boiled with massive pods of right whales. Gangs of 4-meter-long porpoises cavorted off the British Isles.
These are but a few of the surprises turned up by an international team of marine researchers who scoured old ship logs, fishbone-littered middens, Latin and Greek verse, tax accounts, dusty legal documents, and even mounted trophies to paint a picture of oceans past.
Marine scientists compiled the data as part of the Census of Marine Life project, a 10-year initiative that seeks to describe the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans (both past and present) by 2010. They will present their findings at The Census of Marine Life Oceans Past II Conference, from May 26-28, in Vancouver.
This sort of research is of enormous importance. The oceans appear superficially the same from year to year, but the human impact has been severe. Commercial fishing has been a giant strip-mining operation hidden beneath the surface of the waves. A historical analysis is necessary to document this, and, as the video points out, the data is already in existence, waiting to be compiled.