While oceans make up roughly 70% of the surface of the Earth, only around 5% have been explored. Now, scientists looking into the waters off the Chilean coast were able to discover a massive underwater mountain that houses different wonderful and weird species.
Underwater Mountains
The researchers were able to come across the underwater mountain as they were looking into the Salas y Gomez Ridge. The underwater mountain spans 1,800 miles and comprises over 200 seamounts that span offshore Chile all the way to Easter Island.
With the help of an underwater robot, the researchers were able to go to depths of 4,500 meters. They then performed mapping that spanned up to 52,777 square kilometers across the seafloor. This led to the four new seamounts being discovered, with each one having a unique ecosystem of its own.
The tallest seamount stands at 3,530 meters. For reference, this mount is over four times taller compared to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is the tallest building in the world. The team has unofficially named the seamount Solito.
New Species Found in Massive Underwater Mountain
According to experts from the Schmidt Ocean Institute, there could be over 100 new species lurking in this area. Dr. Javier Sellanes, the expedition's leader, expresses that they exceeded their expectations and hopes for the journey.
Dr. Sellanes shares that while it is expected to discover new species in areas that are remote and poorly explored, the quantity they discover for certain groups, such as sponges, is quite boggling.
While the new species are still to be officially identified and named, the underwater robot caught them on camera.
For one, there was a bright red fish called a Chaunax that was observed roughly 1,388 meters deep. There were also Oblong Dermechinus urchins documented at depths of 516 meters. There was also a curious squat lobster found perched at 669 meters deep.
Other new species found during the expeditions are a spiraling coral, a web-like sponge, and an urchin that is spiky. Dr. Jyotika Virmani, the executive director of Schmidt Ocean Institute, explains that it may take several years to fully identify the species. Dr. Virmani shares that the team of Dr. Sellanas has a remarkable number of samples from this incredible and minimally known hotspot of biodiversity. The researchers will start looking into each sample to see if it points to a newly found species.
The institute is also a partner of the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census Program, which aims to discover 100,000 new marine creatures within the next decade. Once these new species are identified, they will be included in this count.
This trip serves as the latest one among many SOI expeditions that have mapped underwater mounts across southeast Pacific in the past years.
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