Bay Area Researchers Find 100 Never-Before-Seen Sea Creatures In The Philippines

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A team of Bay Area scientists traveled to the Philippines, dove to great depths and used all kinds of clever equipment to discover sea creatures never seen before.

The team of scientists from the California Academy of Sciences was startled by what they discovered in the Verde Island Passage.

"We found somewhere around a hundred new species," marine scientist Rich Mooi told KPIX 5.

Creatures never seen until now include sea snails, urchins and barnacles. The expedition used specially trained divers to explore an area so deep, the light just starts to fade.

"That area is very poorly known so we had meisophotic divers with us," Mooi said. "They're called meisophotic divers because that's, where, meiso means middle of the loss of light area, the twilight zone."

The academy worked closely with the University of the Philippines and the Philippine government, allowing some samples to return to the U.S., such as a just-discovered urchin.

"This is a brand new species of what we call 'Heart Urchins.' Heart Urchins are burrowing sea urchins. They live on soft sandy bottoms," Mooi said. "I get to name this one as a brand new species, that's my job."

And he may get to name more mystery creatures soon.

Scientists said they will be returning to the Philippines where they expect to find even more new species.