Importance

Ecological importance

Deep sea is the habitat of many habitat-forming species. For instance, deep water corals such as Lophelia provide shelter and protection for young fish and shellfish species. The fish species are being protected from damaging effect of water currents and the deep sea predators. The habitat provided by the habitat-forming species is also the spawning ground and nurseries for various species with economically important role. The presence of coral reef in the deep sea is likely to influence the distribution of fish species too [1].

Seamounts which are found at the ocean floor refer to the submerged mountains rise from the seabed that forms ‘islands’ under water. They allow the currents to flow faster through the rocks’ surface and this indirectly provides food for filter-feeding animals such as sponges, gorgonian and black corals. Corals and anemones are the dominant species found in the area’s ecology. Due to prevalence of deep sea benthos, the seamounts are known as the ‘underwater gardens’. The benthic species that dominate the ecology of seamounts allow numerous fish species to hunt for their food and acquire physical protection [1].

Biotechnological importance

The deep sea harbors a variety of life including extremophiles with unique adaptations to extreme environments. Unique biodiversity and ecosystem in the deep sea environment are valued as important research sources that may lead to discovery of novelty species and the natural products found in the species can be solutions to many unsolved problems such as cancer treatment. The deep sea communities are remained underexplored and a rich source of promising natural products in fields such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, pesticides, cosmetics and other commercial products. It was also revealed that patented drugs are mostly derived from marine sponges [1]. Therefore, blue biotechnology focusing on the marine-related biotechnology is now under the spotlight worldwide for its promising role in advancing various biotechnology fields especially in pharmaceutical biotechnology application.

References:

1. Oceana 2005, Deep sea life: on the edge of abyss, Oceana, viewed 6 May 2015, <http://oceana.org/sites/default/files/reports/Deep _Sea_Life_ENG.pdf>.