The undersea mountains where #sharks rule https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251208-shark-mountains-the-undersea-mountains-where-sharks-rule

"Compared to surrounding oceanic waters, the team found the Southern #Seamounts supported five times higher diversity, and 30 times higher biomass, of sharks and large predatory fishes combined. There was also a significantly higher number of several threatened and near-threatened species including silky sharks"

#Spain announced the designation of five new #MarineProtectedAreas (MPAs) https://oceanographicmagazine.com/news/conservation-win-for-spain-as-six-marine-protected-areas-declared/

"The decision adds 17,000 km² of marine space to the country’s protected waters. The newly protected sites include some of the most biologically rich and ecologically significant areas in Spanish waters: the #seamounts of the Mallorca Channel, the pockmark fields and seamounts of the Seco de Palos, the Capbreton canyon system, the Alboran Sea banks, and the Central Catalan Coast."

#conservation

Undersea mountains are key hubs for sharks https://phys.org/news/2025-02-undersea-mountains-key-hubs-sharks.html paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003016

"#Zooplankton were twice as common at shallow #seamounts than in the open ocean, while #shark biomass was 41 times higher... #FilterFeeders may benefit from prey being blown over the peak, and the peak may also stop prey species from retreating into deeper water... Also, some predators appear to use seamounts as hubs to gather, socialize, mate or rest"

#Sharks #Animals #Ecology #Plankton

I've set up hotspots for seamounts near each of the South Atlantic islands I review. I've written about it here:

https://www.burntfen.com/2024-07-05/south-atlantic-seamount-hotspots-on-ebird

#ebird #hotspots #seamounts #pelagic #birding #birds

Expedition searching for #NewSpecies in #Arctic Ocean https://geographical.co.uk/news/expedition-searching-for-new-species-in-arctic-ocean

"On board the expeditions boat, the #RVKronprinsHaakon #ResearchVessel, is a multi-disciplinary team of 36 #scientists from 15 universities and institutes whose goal is to explore and chart a series of #hydrothermal vent fields, #CarbonSeeps, #seamounts and #DeepSea ridges... With only 1,100 species currently described from the #ArcticOcean, the team is hopeful of new discoveries"

Rare #Shark Spotted for the First Time in #Panama’s Eastern Pacific https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-tropical-research-institute/2024/03/09/rare-shark-spotted-for-the-first-time-in-panamas-eastern-pacific/

First evidence of prickly shark, Echinorhinus cookei Pietschmann 1928, aggregation on seamounts in the eastern #Pacific, Panama https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jfb.15720

"The elusive #PricklyShark was observed during a #submarine expedition to the depths of the #CordilleraDeCoiba #seamounts, a #biodiversity hotspot and marine protected area."