One of the scientists, Professor Callum Roberts, will be in Australia next week to meet with politicians and key decision-makers urging them to take strong action.

They are the latest voices in an unprecedented call for action from the scientific community over the past two years.

In February 2004, 1,136 scientists from 69 countries released a statement calling on governments and the United Nations to adopt a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. Never before had such a large number of scientists united around a specific marine environmental issue. The statement represented a turning point in the mounting global campaign to halt deep-sea bottom trawling on the high seas.

Since then the call has been echoed around the world. A particularly good collection of scientific information is in a report released earlier this year called 'Red Herrings'. It was released by the Deep Sea Conservation Council (DSCC) to debunk claims of sustainability by the bottom trawl industry and details numerous scientific studies that counters claims bottom trawling doesn't impact the sea floor.

More information about the science of the deep sea is available from the DSCC website.

And for some really interesting information on creatures of the deep, check out the diary from the Norfanz tour of 2003. This was an expedition that New Zealand and Australian scientists undertook to better understand life in the deep sea. Their diary details info about some of the new creatures the discovered along the way and they also have a 'creature feature' gallery.

So once again we ask - how much more proof do we need?