Deep-Sea and Open Ocean Biological Sample Collections
The collections continue to provide important baseline data on the deep-sea environment and showcase an extensive number of newly discovered deep-sea species. The material is used in-house by NOC scientists, by other UK institutes and by a wide variety of researchers and natural history collections globally.
The Discovery Collections are still expanding, with sampling programmes in the North East Atlantic adding to the collection every year. The majority of recent samples have come from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the eastern North Atlantic (a marine geological feature named after the ship, HMS Porcupine, that took the first researchers to the area) where a great deal of research is still carried out. Other recent major collections have come from the Arabian Sea and around the Crozet Islands.
How Big Are the Collections Today?
The Discovery Collections at NOC Southampton contain both specimen material and bulk ecological samples and consequently have continuing value for further taxonomic, biological and ecological research. In the collections there are now over 70,000 lots ranging from single glass vials containing a single specimen to 25-litre tubs full of specimens.
How To Get Involved
You can find out more about the Discovery Collections held at NOC by contacting the curator to find out about the holdings and arrange a scientific loan or a visit to undertake scientific research on the Discovery Collections materials.
Alternatively, you can view samples from the Discovery Collections at the NOC open day and other outreach events.