#davidson seamount

[fromthedust]

whale fall on the California coast

https://www.montereyherald.com/2019/11/19/life-after-death-whale-corpse-offers-an-underwater-feast-a-mile-down/

[montereybayaquarium]

Davidson Seamount is a deep-sea oasis of life. Help keep it protected!

A benthic octopus on Davidson Seamount (credit: NOAA)

It took seven years of research, collaboration and public input to get Davidson Seamount protected as part of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Now those protections could be weakened or removed due to April’s White House executive order calling for a review of national marine sanctuaries and monuments—potentially to open up these blue parks for offshore oil and gas drilling. Please let the administration know that the ocean needs more protection, not less.

How you can help:

Speak up for America’s protected waters by adding your comment to the official Federal Register

Check out our Conservation & Science blog post for suggested talking points about the benefits that national marine sanctuaries bring to people, wildlife and the economy

And read on to see what makes Davidson Seamount such an important place to protect (and geek out about!)...

What is Davidson Seamount? 

Davidson Seamount sits 70 nautical miles southwest of Monterey (Credit: NOAA)

Davidson Seamount is one of the largest seamounts in the world. Picture a volcano that's 23 nautical miles long, seven nautical miles wide and 7,480 feet tall. Now imagine that the top of that volcano is still 4,101 feet below the surface of the sea, and the whole place is home to countless fascinating deep sea creatures. That’s Davidson Seamount!

While Davidson Seamount was discovered in 1933, the first video images weren't produced until 2000, when our colleagues at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) teamed up for a joint survey of this vast undersea habitat. The images they brought back sparked national interest and a conversation about protecting the seamount began. NOAA, MBARI and other research partners set out to learn more about this place. What they discovered amazed them:

Researchers found vasts forests of corals including bubblegum coral, a deep sea species that can live hundreds of years, grow over eight feet tall and provides habitat for other organisms. (Credit: NOAA)

"We were blown away by the size, age, and diversity of deep-water corals we saw during the 2002 Davidson cruise. Indeed, the discoveries we made during that cruise prompted members of the public to propose Davidson Seamount be protected as part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. We wanted to go back to learn why so many extraordinary corals thrive there and to determine their age and growth patterns." - Andrew DeVogelaere, chief scientist of the 2006 expedition

Venus flytrap anemone on Davidson Seamount (Credit: NOAA and MBARI)

Tiburonia granrojo jelly at Davidson Seamount (Credit: NOAA and MBARI) 

Researchers found that Davidson Seamount was a pristine “oasis of life” that provided habitat for numerous deep-sea creatures, including several previously undiscovered species found over the course of their explorations. The seamount also supports life above and around it, as the water above seamounts are productive feeding grounds for a wide variety of fishes, marine mammals, and seabirds.

A ghost shark (pointy-nosed blue chimaera) spotted near the summit of Davidson Seamount. 

Seven years after calls to protect Davidson Seamount were first proposed, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary expanded to include this unique deep-water habitat. Achieving this took a careful, multi-year process that involved input from the public and evaluation from a working group of key stakeholders, including research scientists, educators, fishermen, marine conservation groups and ocean management agencies.

Today, Davidson Seamount and the amazing deep-sea creatures that call it home are protected. To help keep it that way, add your comment to the official Federal Register.

If you’d like dive into more of the life found on Davidson Seamount, our friends at MBARI have lots of great articles and videos from their explorations, like this:

[danireef]

Un raro filmato del "polpo dumbo", il polpo con le orecchie

Un raro filmato del "polpo dumbo", il polpo con le orecchie - I biologi marini hanno ripreso un raro “polpo dumbo” con le sue protuberanze che ricordano le orecchie dell’iconico elefante della Walt Disney.

Un nuovo articolo su http://www.danireef.com/2018/10/30/un-raro-filmato-del-polpo-dumbo-il-polpo-con-le-orecchie/

Un raro filmato del "polpo dumbo", il polpo con le orecchie

#California, #DavidsonSeamount, #MontereyBay, #MontereyBayNationalMarineSanctuary, #Nautilus, #NOAA, #OpisthoteuthisCaliforniana, #Polpo, #PolpoDumbo, #Ricerca

- by Cristian Barucca

[horrorsofthedeep]

Whale Fall Actively Devoured by Scavengers at Davidson Seamount | Nautilus Live

During the final dive of this year’s Nautilus expedition season, our team discovered a whale fall while exploring Davidson Seamount off central California’s ...

[uneco]

Scientists discovered more than 1,000 octopuses in what is reportedly the world's largest deep-sea octopus nursery

With an estimated over 1,000 octopuses spotted, the area at the Davidson Seamount has now been confirmed as the largest deep-sea octopus nursery ever discovered.

In the waters off the coast of California, marine scientists are finding a whole world of cephalopod wonders: in the latest installment, it's a vast number of octopuses huddling over their eggs in the crevices of an extinct underwater volcano.