Diving expedition yields trove of new species for Cal Academy

Scientists diving amid deep-water corals and ranging the shallows for sea creatures never seen before have returned to the California Academy of Sciences from an expedition in the Philippines bearing new collections of exotic ocean life and a record of discovery for countless new species. The life-forms the researchers observed during their sea-going venture are “so amazing, spectacular and weird,” academy biologist Terry Gosliner said this week, that they will surely help shed new light on animal evolution and advance measures to protect the diversity of the long-threatened underwater region. Gosliner led the seven-week expedition to a remote ocean region called the Verde Island Passage that lies between the islands of Luzon and Mindoro. It’s “one of the most astounding regions of biodiversity on Earth,” Gosliner said. Some 90 scientists and their assistants joined the venture. Near-record depths Teams of researchers scoured the near-shore shallows, netted organisms from the sea surface and -READ MORE AND SEE PHOTOS-http://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Diving-expedition-yields-trove-of-new-species-for-6324413.php