Ecosystems of the deep seas

Before we think about exploiting the deep seas for their mineral wealth, it is essential that we understand the unique and fragile ecosystems of these dark waters with their wondrous and diverse life forms so that we do not repeat the mistakes that have destroyed terrestrial ecosystems and contributed to climate change.

 

Ocean layers.

An octopus at a seep site.

The autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry.

Alvin uses one of its manipulator arms to take samples from the sea floor. Alvin is a three-manned American deep-sea submersible fitted with sophisticated equipment.

A seamount at a depth of 2,465 metres.

Glass sponges are visible in the foreground of this sponge community found at a depth of about 2,360 m.

A translucent egg case with a catshark embryo actively swimming inside it.

A copepod family Aetideidae) laden with eggs.

The octocoral Iridigorgia with squat lobsters on it, in the north-western Gulf of Mexico.

The curlicue shape is a characteristic of Iridogorgia.

A hydrothermal vent chimney.

A vent emitting droplets of liquid carbon dioxide.

A seep site with clusters of live Bathymodiolus mussels (left side, foreground, and background).

An aggregation of Lamellibrachia sp. tubeworms providing a habitat for many smaller animals.

The giant tubeworm Riftia pachyptila.

Sea cucumbers (Chiridota heheva) with chemosynthetic Bathymodiolus mussels at a cold seep.

An aggregation of ice worms inhabiting methane hydrate. These worms eat chemoautotrophic bacteria using chemicals in the hydrate.

The bone-eating worm Osedax.

Methane bubbles flow in small streams out of the sediment on an area of sea floor. Quill worms, anemones and patches of microbial mat can be seen in the periphery.

Tubeworms associated with seeps. These worms are related to but differ from the giant tubeworms found around hydrothermal vents.

The site of a whale fall. When a whale dies and sinks to the sea floor, it is feast time for several organisms for several years to come.

A purple squat lobster with stalked barnacles attached to it. This lobster is a scavenger and is among the first creatures to arrive at the scene of a whale fall.

A squat lobster perching on an undescribed genus of bamboo coral. This lobster is a scavenger and is among the first creatures to arrive at the scene of a whale fall.

A coral garden. Like their shallow warm-water cousins, cold-water corals provide a habitat for several deep-sea creatures.

A deep-sea red crab hangs out on a bubblegum coral.

A hard rock area with a very high coral diversity on a seamount complex.

A sea pen (Pennatulacea) on the soft sediment of the sea floor.

Bright yellow parasitic zoanthids encrusting a glass sponge.

Sulphide chimneys coated with an iron-based microbial mat at a vent site.

A yellow bamboo coral. Deep-sea corals obtain their nutrition by trapping tiny organisms that the ocean currents bring to them.

A sponge covered with hundreds to thousands of tiny anemones also provides a home to several brittlestars (pink), sea lilies (yellow) and a basket star (brown).

A new species of vent-endemic flatfish.

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The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer images a newly discovered hydrothermal vent.