Posts Tagged ‘california seamounts’
Magnetic Signatures & Singing Stages: the mysterious connection between whales, sharks, and seamounts
By Morgane Bouvet, Seamounts Intern Many of our blogs are now available for listening! Tune in weekly for the audio experience. On the bottom of the deep ocean lie seamounts, massive underwater volcanoes that are largely unexplored, and generally absent of marine protections or management. Most seamounts are located in areas beyond national jurisdiction; also…
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 MoreThe California Seamount Series!
Featured Picture: A Dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis sp.) swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. Today, we release the first in a series of short videos and multi-media stories about a unique place in U.S. oceans — huge underwater mountains, called seamounts. Rising from the deep, dark seafloor…
Read MoreExplore California’s Seamounts Using Our Interactive Story Map
By Samuel Georgian, Marine Biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute We invite you to take a trip with us to the unusual, deep underwater mountains off California’s coasts called seamounts. You will tour the California Seamounts, as they are called, using a Story Map (from Esri) that allows viewers to take a virtual, interactive look at a…
Read MoreSan Juan Seamount: An Ancient Archipelago
Featured Pic: The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hercules explores the San Juan Seamount. Photo courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust. By Samuel Georgian, Marine Biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute San Juan Seamount Seamounts are massive underwater mountains – usually extinct volcanoes – that tower thousands of feet above the seafloor. Some seamounts however, including the San Juan…
Read MoreGumdrop and Pioneer Seamounts – Offshore Seabird Havens
Featured Pic: A breeding rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata), one of the many seabird species that relies on the productive waters above Gumdrop and Pioneer Seamounts to forage. Photo courtesy of Mick Thompson (CC BY-NC 2.0). By Samuel Georgian, Marine Biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute Gumdrop and Pioneer Seamounts Gumdrop and Pioneer are neighboring seamounts located approximately 45…
Read MoreCortes and Tanner Banks: Recreation and Biodiversity Hotspots
Featured Pic: Brown stony corals (Coenocyathus bowersi, foreground) and pink hydrocorals (Stylaster californicus, background) provide habitat for a large school of rockfish at Cortes Bank. Photo courtesy of NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center. By Samuel Georgian, Marine Biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute Cortes and Tanner Banks Cortes and Tanner Banks are twin seamounts located approximately…
Read MoreGorda and Mendocino Ridges – California’s Test Cases for Deep-Sea Mining
Featured Pic: A diverse assemblage of benthic organisms on a sponge garden at Mendocino Ridge. Image courtesy of NOAA NWFSC. By Samuel Georgian, Marine Biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute The Gorda and Mendocino Ridges are a complex series of oceanic ridges just off the coast of northern California, and are home to unique deep-sea ecosystems including hydrothermal…
Read MoreDavidson Seamount: A Deep-Sea Oasis
Featured Pic: Yellow Picasso sponge and white sponges on Davidson Seamount. Image courtesy of NOAA and MBARI. By Samuel Georgian, Marine Biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute Davidson Seamount is an underwater volcano located just 75 miles off the coast of California. Its summit rises an impressive 7500 feet above the surrounding seafloor, yet still remains…
Read MoreGlobal Ocean Refuge Partner Spotlight: MARE
We are happy to shine this Global Ocean Refuge System Partner Spotlight on Marine Applied Research and Exploration (MARE)! MARE’s mission is to explore and document the world’s oceans to support their conservation and management. Recognizing the lack of visual data available on deep sub-tidal habitats, and that accurate data is critical to inform…
Read More