This underwater "highway" for whale skirt a string of ancient and massive volcanoes

Thanks to a particularly runny Looney Tune, the island of Tasmania is best known for its eponymous devils. But the nearby Tasman Sea is no less rich in biodiversity. Take, for example, the latest discovery reported by the Australian research vessel Investigator. A team of marine scientists has discovered an ancient route of huge submarine volcanoes – and these submerged mountains (or "seamounts") apparently overflowing with whales, according to a news release from the scientific agency Australia. [Infographic: Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench]

"While we were above the chain of seamounts, large numbers of pilot whales and large pilot whales visited the ship," said Eric Woehler, marine ecologist at the University. from Tasmania and member of the crew aboard the Investigator during his recent expedition. in a report. "We estimated that at least 28 individual humpback whales visited us one day, followed by a group of 60 to 80 pilot whales the next day."

Woehler and a group of colleagues had recently embarked on a 25-day visit to the Tasman Sea to study the productivity of the oceans, a process by which a microscopic phytoplankton transforms sunlight into carbon that supports whole ocean ecosystems. While Woehler was examining the local marine life, other crew members searched for signs of phytoplankton activity and mapped pieces of ocean floor previously unmapped at the help of a special sonar.

Once the investigator had sailed about 400 km east of Tasmania, the crew found a surge in phytoplankton activity. Sonar analyzes revealed that the activity coincided with the appearance of a gigantic chain of submerged volcanic mountains thousands of feet below the surface of the sea.

Sonar analyzes revealed that these hidden and submarine mountain ranges rose from the seabed to about 5,000 meters below the surface of the water. The frames varied in size and inclination; some were jagged peaks up to 3,000 meters above the seabed, while others were vast and low plateaus. But each of the titanic hills and valleys probably formed millennia ago as a result of ancient volcanic activity in the area, the researchers said.

Today, this variety of terrain probably provides habitats for an extremely diverse population of marine life. The protruding mounts could serve as underwater "landmarks" on a migratory highway for whales in the area, helping them guide them from their winter breeding grounds to their summer feeding grounds, Woehler said. In addition to numerous observations of phytoplankton and whales, the team of investigators also reported seeing a wide variety of seabirds, including four species of albatross and petrels.

"This landscape is very diverse and will undoubtedly be a nerve center of marine biology," said Tara Martin, a researcher at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the Australian scientific agency. who owns and operates the investigator.

Researchers will need to study these newly discovered seamounts in more detail to determine whether this is what Woehler called "the path of marine life". Two new expeditions to the region are planned for November and December. During these trips, the team plans to bring back a high-resolution video of marine life swarming on and around the old seamounts. Stay on the lookout for images on the investigator's website.

Originally posted on Live Science.