Origins of the Collections
The oldest samples in the collection date back to 1925, when the first samples were collected in the Southern Ocean by the first designated Royal Research Ship (RRS) Discovery. Setting sail from Falmouth on 24 September 1925, the first Discovery Investigations expedition aimed to gather information about whales, ecosystems and the environment of the Southern Ocean.
One of the outcomes of the expedition was that it collected evidence on how several whale species were nearing extinction, sparking some of the world's first marine conservation efforts and eventually resulting in a ban on commercial whaling in 1982.
Focus of the Initial Investigations
To understand more about the whales, scientists on board looked to study their food source and the wider ecosystem. Many of the early samples collected focused on euphausiid shrimp, known as krill. The Discovery Reports, a series of 37 scientific volumes, were published from 1929 until 1980, and a wealth of unpublished material was also produced including biological logs, sketchbooks and notebooks.
Today, some of the reports are housed in the special collections of the National Oceanographic Library in Southampton.
How Were Specimens Collected?
Samples were once collected using a variety of manual equipment including trawls, corers, sledges, grabs, baited and sediment traps. With the advances of technology, remotely operated vehicles are now used today to collect samples before being transported to NOC for further study and long-term preservation.
Where Were Samples Collected From?
During the early years, the samples in the Discovery Collections consisted entirely of Southern Ocean samples.
After 1951, sample collection shifted from the Southern Ocean to the eastern North Atlantic. Initially, research was conducted in the pelagic realm.
Much of the material in the collection from 1952 to the early 1970s is from within the water column with some benthic material collected from the West African Margin.
After 1972, benthic research became of greater importance and major benthic surveys were made off the continental shelf of the UK, focusing on an area known as the Porcupine Seabight, and later moving to studies of the Porcupine Abyssal Plain.
During the early years, the samples in the Discovery Collections consisted entirely of Southern Ocean samples.
After 1951, sample collection shifted from the Southern Ocean to the eastern North Atlantic. Initially, research was conducted in the pelagic realm.
Much of the material in the collection from 1952 to the early 1970s is from within the water column with some benthic material collected from the West African Margin.
After 1972, benthic research became of greater importance and major benthic surveys were made off the continental shelf of the UK, focusing on an area known as the Porcupine Seabight, and later moving to studies of the Porcupine Abyssal Plain.
How Were Specimens Stored and Preserved?
The Discovery Collections are now divided into two parts. The first, consisting of the early Southern Ocean material and much of the early North Atlantic material, largely up to 1975, is housed at the Natural History Museum in London. This material has played an important role in advancing our understanding of the biology of the oceans. In addition, it provides a picture of the Southern Ocean prior to the catastrophic decline of whale populations, and a major documentation of mid-water and benthic environments in the North East Atlantic. The second part of the collection, consisting of both benthic and pelagic samples taken off the European continental shelf since 1975, is housed at NOC in a temperature-controlled warehouse.
NOC's Research on Species and Taxonomy
Over half of the life on Earth lives in the ocean, but remarkably a lot of marine life yet to be discovered. The global effort of species and classifying species has been ongoing for centuries, and the methods of collecting, studying and naming marine life has changed considerably over time.