Featured Image Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
An underwater mountain range off the coast of Chile has offered up a veritable treasure trove of discoveries, including more than 100 entirely new species.
A series of recent expeditions took a far closer look at a mountain range deep underwater, some 1,800 miles long, called the Nazca and Salas y Gómez Ridge.
The Schmidt Ocean Institute expeditions used a robot to explore a selection of these underwater mountains at depths of 14,763 feet, and found incredible biodiversity.
International scientists may have discovered more than 100 new species living on seamounts off the coast of Chile. The recent expedition resulted in identifying deep-sea corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, amphipods & other species likely new to science.https://t.co/hrZt67MX73 pic.twitter.com/OYoLML4tHV
— Schmidt Ocean (@SchmidtOcean) February 22, 2024
Even more amazing, each mount apparently had a completely different ecosystem to the last, so the team found new species and inter-species relationships each time they looked.
The team was led by Dr Javier Sellanes, from the Universidad Católica del Norte, and he was unsurprisingly effusive about the discoveries: "We far exceeded our hopes on this expedition. You always expect to find new species in these remote and poorly explored areas, but the amount we found, especially for some groups like sponges, is mind-blowing".
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While sponges might not sound that amazing, some of the footage and photos of the flora and fauna they found is absolutely breathtaking.
It encompasses fern-like coral formations that have fronds that almost look like leaves and an incredible number of urchins and spiny shells in different shapes and colors.
We’re here at #OSM24 where scientists & experts from 60 nations have gathered to help shape the future of ocean science — it is the UN Ocean Decade & we’re advancing the science we need for the ocean we want. Find @SchmidtOcean: https://t.co/NAPkkME0uC pic.twitter.com/VmbAPJ29ak
— Schmidt Ocean (@SchmidtOcean) February 21, 2024
There are plenty of species that look pretty incredible, too, including an incredibly spiny almost spider-like lobster that the team found at 2,194 feet, and believes is a new species.
While some of the life observed were not new discoveries, they're nonetheless amazing to see, like a bright red Chaunax fish with a huge gaping mouth found down at 4,553 feet of depth.
One amazing photo shows this fish looking almost like it's clinging to a rock next to it, and its body shape has to be seen to be believed.
This series of finds won't be the end of the story - firstly, there's loads of testing to be done now to establish what is and isn't a new species, which can be quite complex.
Furthermore, the team of scientists hopes that this can be part of the wider conversation about conservation and protection. These mountains are in protected waters, but there's always room for more legislation and funding to help keep these marine environments safe from pollution.
