About 50% of the Earth’s surface remains unexplored, solely because humans have mapped only a quarter of the seafloor that covers almost 70% of the world in high resolution. Now, imagine discovering a mountain nearly one-third the height of Mount Everest, hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean at Nazca Ridge, situated 900 miles off the coast of Chile. In moments like this, we truly start to fathom the vastitude of the ocean floor.
The results of this month-long expedition by Schmidt Ocean Institute in California continue beyond just mapping the seamount. The team also sent an underwater robot to explore a region blooming with marine biodiversity.
How is the sea floor mapped?
Usually, people scale mountains on land and sometimes even win over the summits of the world. But we can hardly see anything beneath the ocean. This is where we use the sonar system, which uses sound waves to map out the mountains of the deep. The R/V Falkor (too) research vessel mapped the mountain using a sonar system built under the ship’s hull.
According to Jyotika Virmani, the institute’s executive director, sound waves travel down and then bounce back from the surface underwater. Researchers get a decent idea about the seabed topography by measuring the time taken for the sound to return.
The robot expedition: Fantastic beasts and where to find them (but underwater)
The team explored a ridge region teeming with marine life using an underwater robot. The team documented a ghostly white Casper octopus, named so for its resemblance to the friendly ghost Casper from the movie. This is the first time one has been recorded in the southern Pacific.
The team also spotted the flying spaghetti monster (Bathyphysa siphonophores) and recorded the first footage of a live Promachoteuthis squid, which, so far, was characterized by dead specimens caught in nets.
The team has also documented a possible 20 new species, one of which is a sea urchin in the genus Argopatagus, and another is a starfish that experts have yet to verify as a new species.
The discoveries were highlights of the third expedition of the research vessel into the Nazca Ridge, which is a major nominee for becoming the first high seas marine protected area under a new UN Treaty.
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