Camera equipment was sent deep into the ocean. Scientists say underwater footage is a step forward from still photos.

Professor Nic Bax, Commonwealth Scientific Research org, said, "In a lot of the sampling we do, we take pictures, but the stuff we bring up, especially fish, you know a lot of them are dead. To actually see this species and be able to identify it and know it's swimming away alive is really good."

Tens of thousands of basketwork eels were among those caught on camera. There was also coral up to two thousand years old.

Scientists mapped the sea floor and took samples at depths of up to 2 kilometers.