today, as reported by The Guardian -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/02/census-marine-life-sea. Report at www.coml.org. A massive study, over many years, that probably only begins to give a picture of the diversity and distribution of life in the ocean.

As one of the researchers, Mark Costello of the Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland in New Zealand, noted: "This inventory was urgently needed for two reasons. First, dwindling expertise in taxonomy impairs society's ability to discover and describe new species. And secondly, marine species have suffered major declines – in some cases 90% losses – because of human activities and may be heading for extinction, as happened to many species on land."

Or, as someone commented in reply to the article (Guardian link): "The bald monkeys continue unleashing the sixth mass extinction." (Read "The Naked Ape" if you've never read it.)

Sad, but very funny . In the long, long-term view, we're all just parters in an ongoing mass extinction that is well underway, so go ahead and scrub your ablative paints!!