O'Dor's team is documenting cephalopods occupying every part of the ocean. Although there are fewer than a thousand species of cephalopods in the world, the adults range from rice grain size to half-ton giants. They grow fast and become a major food source for top predators like whales. Because they are so interesting but not too diverse, the team was asked to develop CephBase, an interactive website and database, as a prototype for the Ocean Biogeographic Information System. CephBase and OBIS will help keep track of the global Census of Marine Life planned over the next decade. The Census will use new ocean exploration techniques including tracking and telemetry. The successful technologies and the cephalopod prototype led to O'Dor becoming Senior Scientist and coordinating the research for this billion dollar quantitative look at ocean biodiversity.
