56,000 marine species annihilated!

56,000 species of marine life have disappeared but not because of anti-environmental activities of evil corporations. No, they disappeared because they were miscounted in the first place, as AFP reports:

Scientists have identified some 122,500 species of marine life in the oceans and have managed to clear up some 56,000 cases of double-identity as part of a global research project.

Ultimately, the scientists on the project expect to see a large increase in the number of species:

But [Prof.] Bouchet [of the Natural History Museum in Paris] said the work completed so far represents just "the tip of the iceberg, given all the species that remain to be discovered and are continually being discovered."

Before the cataloguing is done, he said, researchers could uncover "five times as many marine species" as those currently known.