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Researchers exploring seamounts such as Davidson have found that as vertical relief from the seafloor increases, animal life explodes.

Muusoctopus positions itself upside down in a brooding position.

During an expedition to Davidson Seamount in October 2019, a new species of bone-eating Osedax worm was discovered on the carcass of a dead whale. When found in great numbers, the worms look like a pink, fuzzy carpet covering the whale’s bones.

Asbestopluma monticola is a white, branched, predatory sponge. Their velcro-like structures (spicules) help to capture small prey that float by. The holotype was recovered from the summit of Davidson Seamount in 2006 using MBARI’s ROV Tiburon.

Davidson Seamount, located 80 miles southwest of Monterey, California, was first mapped in 1933 and was the first undersea feature to be characterized as a “seamount.“ Roughly 200,000 seamounts exist throughout the world, but relatively few have been explored and protected. Since the first biological expedition to Davidson Seamount in 2002, it has been globally recognized as one of the best studied and most protected seamounts.

Learn about some of the cool findings made in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and how this protected seamount teaches us about unique geologic formations deep in the ocean that contribute to ecological quality and ocean productivity.

Read it here: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/may22/explore-spectacular/10-discoveries.html