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The 'Jumbo Dumbo' - given the nickname for its passing resemblance to the flying elephant in Disney's cartoons -

For the past eight years, using deep-towed cameras, sonar and other state-of-the-art technologies, scientists from 34 nations have inventoried 17,650 species of marine species, ranging from crabs to shrimp to worms, living below 200 meters, the penetration limit for the sun's rays.

More than 300 scientists from 34 nations have crammed themselves into deep-diving submersibles or piloted robots from research vessels on storm-racked seas far above, while automated drones have weaved through undersea chasms never seen by Man. Sediment cores, trawls and dredges have scoured for clues about the nature of the deep.

By the time the 10-year Census concludes in October, 2010, the five deep-sea projects will have collectively fielded more than 210 expeditions, including the first ever MAR-ECO voyage in October-November this year, to explore the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south of the Equator, a scientific collaboration between Russia, Brazil, South Africa and Uruguay.

Each voyage is hugely expensive and challenged by often extreme ocean conditions and requirements that have kept the remotest reaches of Neptune's realm impenetrable until recently.

While the collective findings are still being analyzed for release as part of the final Census report to be released in London on October 4, 2010, scientists say patterns of the abundance, distribution and diversity of deep-sea life around the world are already apparent.

More in the upcoming issue of X-Ray Mag