By Guo Xin, Liu Yinglun
HONG KONG, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Qiu Jianwen, professor of Biology at Hong Kong Baptist University, was awestruck by how his "old pal" from a deep-sea scientific mission 11 years ago had evolved.
Qiu revisited Jiaolong, China's first self-developed deep-sea manned submersible, during a 45-day expedition to the Western Pacific Ocean with an international crew of scientists from August to late September.
The submersible may look like its old self in 2013 when Qiu was on board the first time, but it is now complete with high-definition cameras and a siphon sampler, among many other upgrades, marveled Qiu. These enhanced features enabled the discovery of at least a few dozen new species in the expedition.
Qiu collaborated with scientists from Canada, Spain and Colombia during the voyage. It is the first time that foreign scientists have boarded Jiaolong.
"The crew members from home and abroad have their respective fields of expertise, making this voyage a scintillating one for all," said Qiu.
Qiu recalled that once he mistook a type of sponge for garbage. Were it not for a word reminder from a scientist from Spain, he could have missed the "micro-sized" creature.
The mission created a deep bond among the international team of scientists as they worked closely with each other, preserving and categorizing samples of deep-sea organisms before they started degrading, which can happen really fast, said Zhang Shan, a postdoctoral researcher at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Zhang boarded Jiaolong with two foreign female submariners in one of the 18 dives during the voyage, the biggest all-female crew Jiaolong has carried so far.
"They are really caring and patient with me, reminding me to keep myself warm working in the freezing deep sea," said Zhang, heartened by the support she received in her first dive.
As Jiaolong brought scientists closer to the ecosystem of the deep sea, they are alarmed by the variety of marine waste they encountered in many of the dives.
Chemical products discharged into bodies of water will ride ocean currents into the deep sea, rather than decompose, said Wang Qi, a postdoctoral fellow at the City University of Hong Kong. While there is only limited research on the impact of new types of chemicals on the deep sea ecosystem, the stark reality of pollution calls for attention, according to Wang, who reached a record depth of 4,700 meters in a separate dive on the mission.
It pains Zhang to recall a bright blue sample she collected that turned out to be plastic waste, instead of a new species as she had presumed.
"As scientists, we work to protect the ocean on which both humans and the vast unknown deep sea community rely," Zhang said. ■
