Researchers find massive seamount with flying spaghetti monsters, 20 new species
Researchers found a squid so rare there are only a few samples of them, several of them dating back to over a century ago.
Flying spaghetti monsters and ghostly octopuses can be found in the depths of a newly-discovered underwater mountain near South America's west coast, according to oceanographers led by the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California.
A seamount around 900 miles from Chile's coast was discovered in the Nazca Ridge, an underwater mountain chain, stated a press release from the institute published last week.
On its third expedition through the region, a research team of oceanographers led by Erin Easton from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Javier Sellanes from the Universidad Católica del Norte, and the Schmidt Ocean Institute mapped the seamount.
The Nazca Ridge and the adjoining Salas y Gómez Ridge are under consideration to become some of the first areas to obtain designations as a high seas marine protected area.
“Our findings highlight the remarkable diversity of these ecosystems, while simultaneously revealing the gaps in our understanding of how the seamount ecosystems are interconnected," said Tomer Ketter, the co-chief scientist and Schmidt Ocean Institute marine technician, in a statement. "We hope the data gathered from these expeditions will help inform future policies, safeguarding these pristine environments for future generations.”
Flying spaghetti monsters and other rare species hidden in the mountain
The seamount, which supports a "thriving" ecosystem, is 1.9 miles tall, making it taller than five One World Trade Centers stacked on top of each other.
The team mapped the mountain ridge using the sonars on the Falkor (too) and deployed an underwater robot on one of the mountain’s ridges, according to the release. It found sponge gardens and ancient corals.
Researchers have also discovered 150 previously unknown species along the mountain ridge to the Salas y Gómez Ridge to Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, in their three expeditions to the mountain ridge. They found 20 suspected new species in the latest expedition.
Footage of a live Promachoteuthis squid was captured for the first time during the expedition.
The squid "is so rare that only three species have been described based on only a few collected specimens, several of which are from the late 1800s," according to the release. "Until now, the squid genus has only been characterized from dead samples found in nets."
While flying spaghetti monsters, or Bathyphysa siphonophores, may sound like something out of an imaginative children's book, researchers spotted two of the rare creatures while exploring the mountain.
A Casper octopus was also found, making it the first time the species was seen in the Southern Pacific.
"The (Casper) octopus has never been captured, so it doesn't actually have a scientific name yet," Jyotika Virmani, the institute's executive director, told CNN.
Before these expeditions, 1,019 species were known to live in this portion of the Pacific Ocean, the release said, but now that number exceeds 1,300. The discoveries are being sent to the Ocean Census, a global network seeking to accelerate the discovery and protection of ocean life, the organization said.
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