Posts by Sam Georgian
Did Millenia of Fish Poop Help Shape a New Seamount off the Coast of California?
“The oceans deserve our respect and care, but you have to know something before you can care about it.” – Sylvia Earle Move over boring geological processes – there’s a new seamount in town that scientists say could have been shaped by a surprising source: fish poop. Seamounts are colossal underwater mountains that usually form…
Read MoreFor Us and Future Generations
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau My son was born four months ago, and I will never think about ocean conservation the same way again. A biologist by training, I have been studying and working to protect our ocean for almost 15…
Read MoreModeling Mountains: How Species Modeling Could Save the High Seas
Far off the South American coast lie submerged mountain ridges that stretch nearly 2,000 miles along the seafloor. While these seamounts are deep, remote, and mysterious, habitat modeling offers insight into what animals live in these biodiversity hotspots. Our Marine Biogeographer Dr. Sam Georgian discusses a new publication detailing how cutting-edge species distribution models are…
Read MoreCall of the Deep: Exploring the Wonderful, Wacky Deep Sea
Featured Picture: Staff scientist Samuel Georgian takes a turn piloting the ROV Beagle (Marine Applied Research and Exploration) during an expedition off the coast of California. The Last Frontier “There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath…” -Herman Melville…
Read MoreZombie Worms and Friendly Stars: How Deep-Sea Symbiosis (Friends with Benefits) Allows Species to Thrive in a Challenging Environment
Featured Image: Octopus Cluster, Davidson Seamount. Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust/National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The deep sea is a harsh place to live. Lacking the sunlight-fueled productivity that drives shallow-water food webs, the deep sea is extremely limited by available food, leading to slow growth rates, low reproduction, and a reduced ability to recover from disturbances.…
Read MoreIf not now, when? Conserving Seamounts on a Global Scale
Seamounts are massive underwater volcanoes that occur across the planet. They attract and support large numbers of animals including fish, sharks, sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals at the surface and shelter an incredible array of deep-sea life, including cold-water corals and sponges that build crucial structures, or ‘homes’, for large amounts of marine life on the bottom. These habitats are the ‘old-growth forests’ of the ocean – they are long-lived, slow growing, and extremely slow to recover following disturbance from activities like bottom trawling or seabed mining. Of the 10,000 plus seamounts known to exist, only around 10% are protected from some type of destruction. Marine Conservation Institute has a campaign to protect the 60 seamounts off the coast of California and is working with partners to protect many more around the world.
Read MoreThe Peaks and Troughs of California Seamounts
Featured Image: An orange basket star covers a yellow Picasso sponge at Davidson Seamount, approximately 75 miles off the California coast. Courtesy of NOAA. Seamounts Are Oases of Life Seamounts are found all across the world’s oceans, acting as small oases of life dotting the otherwise sparse deep seafloor. These massive underwater volcanoes provide ecologically…
Read MorePuffins and Pufflings, and how the New England Seamounts Could Save Them
Featured Image: An Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) displays its colorful beak and feet. Courtesy of Ray Hennessy. By Samuel Georgian, Marine Biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a striking bird, at times referred to as the clown of the sea due to its unusual facial appearance. These seabird’s boldly-colored beaks serve…
Read MorePollution in the deep sea – are any habitats safe from human disturbance?
Feature Pic: A discarded aluminum can sits deep in the Channel Islands. Photo: MARE and NOAA We’re all too familiar with the horrible images of once pristine beaches that are now covered with trash, threatening a wide array of charismatic animals including sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals. What about our ocean’s most remote…
Read MoreDeep But Not Deserted – Exploring Deep-Sea Ecosystems Off the California Coast
Feature Pic: A yellowtail rockfish swims past a pink landscape dominated by strawberry anemones and hydrocorals on Cordell Bank. Photo: MARE and NOAA In July 2018, Marine Conservation Institute staff scientist Samuel Georgian stepped on board the NOAA research vessel Bell M. Shimada, beginning a two-week expedition to explore deep-water coral and sponge habitats off…
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