Zoological Survey wants deep-sea vehicles for research

To explore life deep into the Indian Ocean, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is planning to acquire deep-sea vehicles for exploration and to search for new species, an official said here.

"We are in the process of drafting a detailed proposal and we plan to submit it to the union ministry of environment, forests and climate change so that we can procure some kind of vehicles for deep sea exploration," ZSI director-in-charge Kailash Chandra told the media here on the sidelines of a workshop on Monday.

ZSI scientists, so far, have been able to access 200 metres beneath the sea surface with their scuba diving gear but Chandra said the scope of discovering new species is "immense" given the fact that life exists in the ocean up to a depth of almost 4,000 metres.