A team of oceanographers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California has made an exciting discovery: a massive underwater mountain, or seamount, located 900 miles off the coast of Chile in the Pacific Ocean. This seamount stands at 1.9 miles high, towering above Mount Olympus in Greece but still smaller than Japan’s Mount Fuji. To put it in perspective, it’s about four times the height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

This newly mapped seamount is part of an underwater range that supports a rich and diverse ecosystem, including sponge gardens, ancient corals, and rare marine species. The team even captured footage of a new type of squid during their 28-day expedition aboard the research vessel R/V Falkor.

According to Jyotika Virmani, the institute’s executive director, the discovery is significant because only 26 per cent of the seafloor has been mapped in such detail. The area’s diverse marine life makes it a candidate for becoming the world’s first high seas marine protected area under a UN treaty.

Among the notable discoveries were a ghostly white Casper octopus and two rare Bathyphysa siphonophores, also known as “flying spaghetti monsters.” The team also recorded footage of a Promachoteuthis squid, a species rarely seen alive.

The findings highlight the importance of exploring and protecting these underwater ecosystems. The Schmidt Ocean Institute’s work contributes to global efforts to safeguard marine environments, emphasizing the need for continued ocean exploration and conservation.

The data collected from this expedition will be shared with the Ocean Census, an international initiative aimed at identifying 100,000 unknown marine species over the next decade, enhancing our understanding of the world’s oceans.