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Mountains of the Deep

From an interview with Karen Stocks

CenSeam, investigating seamount ecosystem, is one of the 14 field projects within the Census on Marine Life. Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise up from the ocean floor. With their own localized, plankton rich tides and upwellings and shallower, more hospitable waters, they are often host to a greater amount and diversity of marine life than the surrounding ocean. This richness has also made them vulnerable to overexploitation by the fishing industry. The study of seamount ecosystems, about which there are still much to learn, is helping to decrease their vulnerability.

A seastar with raised arms feeds off the water current [© NIWA 2008]

I am a seamount researcher. I explore the life of underwater mountains in the oceans. People often ask me how often I go to sea for my research and what the most interesting seamount that I have visited is. The truth usually amazes them: I have never been to a seamount. I explore the oceans with a computer, using a mouse and a keyboard instead of a ship and nets. I am interested in the patterns of life, how many species there are, what kinds are found and where--and how they are connected, across seamounts in the ocean. To do this, I pull together information collected from many studies.

I am one of the researchers for The Census of Marine Life field project on seamounts, which has created a timely forum for international seamount researchers to come together to consolidate their knowledge and fill in missing gaps. It has been vital to bring together the international, interdisciplinary scientists needed to address these complex questions. It has also provided the catalyst for moving seamount research up a level; from single expedition science to examination of larger patterns and longer timeframes.

[From the CenSeam website]

Now is a critical time for seamounts. As we discover more about the abundant and often fragile organisms that seamounts support, potentially damaging deep-sea trawling for commercial fish on seamounts has been expanding. Understanding how seamounts should be protected is an international issue which requires international input. Close to half of all seamounts are within the "high seas," the area of the ocean that is not within any individual country's jurisdiction, but must be managed through international agreements. When considering seamounts within an individual country's waters, deciding where to place Marine Protected Areas on seamounts is best done with an understanding of the larger region's patterns of biodiversity.

[Read the main article]

Karen Stocks is Assistant Research Scientist at San Diego Supercomputer Center and researcher for the Census of Marine Life. Her interests include biodiversity informatics, marine biogeography and seamount ecology. A graduate of University of Massachusetts and Rutgers University, she works with technical experts to develop and tailor information systems to marine biodiversity and ecology. Read more about the Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts here: censeam.niwa.co.nz

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