Seamounts are biodiversity hotspots 🐋🐙
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/
Protecting seamounts can help us in our fight against the #ClimateCrisis.
#Seamount ecosystems support an abundance of marine life which contributes to the transportation of carbon to the seafloor where it is stored - a critical process for tackling climate change.
We must preserve these vital and fragile ecosystems. 🌊⛰️
On seamounts, cold, upwelling waters regenerate nutrients at the ocean’s surface and fuel vital marine food webs, attracting species including sharks, turtles, seabirds, whales and fish such as tunas and swordfish. 🦈 🐢
Seamounts also act as waypoints in the #DeepSea for migratory species like humpback
whales. 🐋
Seamounts are a cornerstone for ocean health, providing complex and irreplaceable ecosystem services.
Bottom trawling is causing widespread, long-term destruction to these vulnerable marine ecosystems.
It has been estimated to take “centuries to millennia” for these ecosystems to recover!
States and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations must step up their efforts to #ProtectSeamounts and phase out this destructive activity.
#OceanLifelines
#ocean
#BanBottomTrawling
#Seamounts are #OceanLifelines – 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.
⌛️It’s 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.
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.
Ika Makimaki