The Census of Marine Life is a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans.
The Census of Marine Life is an unprecedented undertaking that is significantly contributing to understanding of the marine environment and life in the global ocean. Census researchers are discovering new life forms, finding life in unexpected places, advancing technology to create windows into what was an opaque ocean, and building global partnerships to advance what is know about life below the surface. During late 2008-2009, the Census will wind up its field work and begin the complex process of synthesizing the immense amount of data collected over the last eight years, with the goal of releasing the first Census of Marine Life in 2010. The first Census will not only advance knowledge about life in the global ocean, including the first ever complete catalog of marine life, but will serve to inform decisions about how to best manage the resources that live below the surface around the world.