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.

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

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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Ocean layers. ▲

An octopus at a seep site.

Photo: Ivan Hurzeler and DEEP SEARCH 2019 - BOEM;USGS;NOAA;ROV Jason;©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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The autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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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.

Photo: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution;DEEP SEARCH 2018 - BOEM;USGS;NOAA

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A seamount at a depth of 2,465 metres.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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A copepod family Aetideidae) laden with eggs.

Photo: NOAA Ocean Explorer

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

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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The curlicue shape is a characteristic of Iridogorgia.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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A hydrothermal vent chimney.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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A vent emitting droplets of liquid carbon dioxide.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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

Photo: NOAA Ocean Explorer

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

Photo: NOAA Ocean Explorer

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The giant tubeworm Riftia pachyptila.

Photo: NOAA

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

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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

Photo: NOAA Ocean Explorer

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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.

Photo: NOAA

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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.

Photo: NOAA

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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.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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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.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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

Photo: NOAA Ocean Explorer

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

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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

Bright yellow parasitic zoanthids encrusting a glass sponge.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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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.

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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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).

Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

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A new species of vent-endemic flatfish. ▲

 

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