Oceanographers Discover Massive Sea Mountain In the Pacific Ocean Taller Than Mount Olympus

Oceanographers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute, California have found an underwater mountain and mapped it, revealing that its height is equal to four Burj Khalifas stacked on top of each other.

The gigantic seamount in the Pacific Ocean is 1448 km off the Chilean coast and rises 3109 m from the ocean floor. It is part of an underwater mountain range bustling with life, including corals, marine creatures and rare species of squid which have not been previously recorded.

The seamount was discovered in a 28-day expedition which was led by the Schmidt Ocean Institute on board a research vessel named R/V Falkor, using a sonar system under the ship’s hull to map the mountain.

This finding is quite significant because just 26% of the sea floor has been mapped with such detail as in the case of this sea mount, even though the seafloor covers around 71% of our planet’s surface.

Oceanographers have said that there are about 100,000 sea mounts across the world which are more than 1000 m or 3280 feet tall.

These mountains are vital habitats for many marine species and this newly found seamount is taller than Mount Olympus in Greece and shorter than Mount Fuji in Japan.

The team explored one of its ridges using an underwater robot and found great biodiversity, including a ghostly white octopus nicknamed Casper, as it is the first instance that this deep-sea being has been seen in the southern Pacific.

They also saw rare Bathyphysa siphonophores or “flying spaghetti monsters” due to their string-like appearance.

They also got the first-ever video footage of a Promachoteuthis squid, a species earlier known from a few collected specimens.

These findings were among the most valuable ones of the research vessel’s 3rd expedition in 2024 to Nazca Ridge, which could become the world’s first high seas marine protected area under a new UN Treaty adopted in 2023.

The team said that they mapped and explored 25 seamounts and gathered large amounts of data which could help in making a strong case to protect this region.

They had expeditions in January and February as well in which they identified 150 new species and in this expedition, they found 20 new species.

References: Times of India, NDTV

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