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 kmΒ² of marine space to the countryβs 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."
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"
Seamounts have been likened to βoasesβ of life in the comparative deserts of the open ocean. This integrated study of tropical seamounts suggests that high faunal biomass is sustained by exogenous energy inputs and that they act as aggregating βhubsβ for marine top predators.
Now we can see the damage caused by #BottomTrawling on #seamounts
This footage is from the Emperor Seamounts in the North Pacific #ocean
The difference is stark between trawled and pristine sites.
In the South Pacific, New Zealand remains the only country still trawling seamounts.
Global ocean sanctuaries would protect these biodiverse areas on the high seas.
#Seamounts are #OceanLifelines β they provide many benefits from climate regulation to nutrient cycling, and shelter for a variety of marine life.
But these ecosystems are under threat from human activity, including bottom trawling.
βοΈItβs time for States to reaffirm and uphold their United Nations General Assembly #UNGA commitments to #ProtectSeamounts from
destructive fishing practices and recognize the value of deep sea ecosystems and the role they
play in ocean health.
Seamounts are biodiversity hotspots ππ
Underwater mountains are home to countless species that forage, hunt and breed on these ecosystems.
Fewer than 1% of #seamounts have been explored and studied, and yet explorations in the deep consistently return with the discovery of hundreds of species believed to be new to science.
Imagine all there is to discover on these #OceanLifeLines
https://deep-sea-conservation.org/solutions/protect-seamounts/
Lukas VFN πͺπΊ
Scientific Frontline
blandblue
PLOS Biology
π§π Greg Cocks
Ika Makimaki