Saed News: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), at a time when climate change is rapidly warming the oceans, seamounts clearly serve as a unique refuge for marine life. View the published images of ocean creatures.
According to Saed News' multimedia service, citing Faradeed, when scientists say that our knowledge of the oceans is less than that of outer space, they are not exaggerating. Around 14,500 seamounts on Earth (ancient mountains formed at the ocean floor) have been mapped so far. However, researchers believe this number is less than 1% of the actual total. Only a handful of them have been closely studied, and Davidson Seamount is probably one of the most explored. This inactive underwater volcano, discovered in 1933 off the coast of California, is massive, spanning 25 miles. It has not erupted in the past 9.8 million years.
Last year, an ancient and still-active volcano was found off the coast of Canada, covered with millions of giant eggs from Pacific Ocean white-spotted charfish (a beautiful cartilaginous fish resembling a lanternfish).
White Fish
The Pacific Ocean white-spotted charfish, with its flat, broad body and wing-like fins, easily moves along the sea floor, blending with the sand like a shadow. Its pale, ghostly color and sleek, ethereal appearance make it seem like a creature that could have stepped straight out of a science fiction movie.
Glass Sponges
Glass sponges are among the longest marine creatures, constructing intricate cylindrical structures using needle-like spicules as bricks. Some sponges trap crustaceans until their death. They feed on bacteria and plankton, producing debris that becomes food for crustaceans until they grow large enough to exit the sponge. In an underwater display of reciprocity, crustaceans, in exchange for this food, clean the sponges and even reproduce within them.
Glass Sponge
Many creatures at the nameless seamount off the coast of Chile had bright red coloring, like radiant red crabs and fish that "walked" across the sea floor. This color cloaked the animals in invisibility, as red light is absorbed first at such depths. The crew discovered cactus-like marine sea cucumbers and sea sponges that were as tall as humans.
