Census of Marine Zooplankton captured thousands of microscopic animal specimens from the ocean bottom in an effort to map their DNA:
The latest research cruise in the ongoing Census of Marine Zooplankton project pulled weird and wonderful looking organisms up from as deep as 5000 metres, far surpassing the 1000 m depth of previous expeditions.
The goal of the project is to create a comprehensive genetic "encyclopaedia" of all the zooplankton species that live in the open ocean by 2010.
The picture on the left is that of Clio pyramidata, a swimming snail and one of the first zooplankton to have its genes sequenced.
Link | CMarZ Project (video goodness: http://www.cmarz.org/CMarZ_Cruise_April/images_press/RHB_06-03_zooplankton.mov)