It ’s commonly allege that we know more about cryptic space than we do about our ownoceans , and this is almost for certain true . From enormousasteroid cratersto mysterious lifeforms , discoveries about the marineunderworldare often nothing short of revelatory . As let on in an exclusive reputation by theAssociated Press , a team aboard the three - man submarine Pisces V hope to unveil some spectacular arcanum of their own off the coast ofHawaii , and they are off to an incredible start .
Thanks to the upwelling superheated feather of magma beneath these isles , underwater volcanoes named “ seamounts ” are unceasingly rising up from the seafloor . When the underlie tectonic scale moves inexorably on , these seamounts stop eruct lava but rest standing .
Nutrients keep upwelling through them via participating hydrothermal vent , and consequently these hillock are fantasticrealms of biodiversity , featuring cornucopia of flora , fauna , andmicrobial lifeunlike anywhere else on Earth . Investigating these hidden environments is the principal object glass of the Pisces V.
The Cook seamount is just one such biodiverse world . At a height of 3,962 meter ( 13,000 feet ) , it ’s more or less taller than Mount Fuji , and researchers fromConservation Internationaland the University of Hawaii have just this calendar month laid eyes on it in soul – the first time anyone has done so in human history . Already , a new specie of violet - discolour coral dubbed “ Purple Haze ” has been learn .
As sunlight disappeared from persuasion , the hero sandwich ’s only source of natural light was that being give off from bioluminescent wight swimming insouciantly retiring . At the meridian , the squad could see starfish , eels , sharks , runt , Phthirius pubis , and some super rarified forms of life . Two Dumbo octopus , recognizable by their pop out ear - like fins , were see pootling along , as were chimaeras , a fish that separate off from the shark lineage 400 million years ago .
Beneath the waves , above the seamount . AP
“ We do n’t have intercourse anything about the sea level , ” Peter Seligmann , carbon monoxide gas - founder of Conservation International , toldAP . The group plan to visit around 50 seamounts over the next five years . “ What we know is that each one of those seamounts is a refuge for new species , but we do n’t have it off what they are . We do n’t lie with how they ’ve evolved . We do n’t bed what lesson they have for us . ”
The team have also visited Lo - ihi , the active vent at the top of the mantle plume . One day , it willrise from the seaand become the new major fighting vent in the area , just like Kilauea is today .
For now , it ’s home to a identification number of bass - ocean sharks , including aPacific sleeper sharkthat seems to care mill around above the volcanic crater . The team have seen this risk - pickings apex marauder so much that they consider him an “ old friend ” .
A mystifying - ocean shark swim above several eel at the height of the Cook seamount . Caleb Jones / AP / PA Images
[ H / T : Associated Press ]
