Earth’s most biodiverse waters identified in Australia, Japan

A “ROLL CALL” of marine species has identified Australian and Japanese waters as the most biodiverse on Earth.

Each ocean zone contains an estimated 33,000 known forms of life, ranging from algae and single-celled protozoa to whales and sea birds.

The Mediterranean was also listed as a hotspot for different kinds of species by Census of Marine Life (CoML) scientists, who surveyed 25 key marine regions. Waters around popular holiday resorts in southern Europe were in the top five of the biodiversity league table, along with oceans off China and the Gulf of Mexico.