Deep Rising
Juvenile yelloweye, Bowie Seamount © Neil McDaniel / WWF-Canada Undersea Mountain
Erupting into mystery
Born from a volcano
During the last Ice Age, Bowie Seamount spewed lava. When the eruptions stopped, marine creatures may have used this volcano as a safe haven. Back then, Bowie rose well above sea level. Today, its ecologically-rich summit lingers only 24 metres below the surface of the water. It's unusual. Most of the world's 30,000 seamounts have summits hundreds of metres below the ocean's surface.
| Rainbow Sea Star |
 Photograph by Neil McDaniel
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Deep water dance
Countless creatures call Bowie home, from sea anemones to rockfish and whales. But how did it attract such a rich array of sea creatures? Scientists think it's the "deep water dance."
Ocean currents move when they come across a very steep object, like a submerged mountain. This dance is a mystery in itself, with many physical processes at play. When oceanic currents meet a mountain, most of the water flows around the base of the seamount. However, like a mountaineer, some of the water also heads up, flowing up the slope and over the summit of the mountain.
| Interesting fact: When scientists examined the gut contents of rockfish found on Bowie Seamount by divers in 1969, they found a high level of cannibalism, with adult rockfish feeding on smaller juvenile rockfish. |
Chance encounters: Most creatures arrive at seamounts in larval form. The swirling eddies at the summits trap some of the creatures, creating rich ecological communities.
What creatures live on Bowie today? The summit hosts sea stars, anemones, sponges and many species of fish, including halibut, rockfish and sablefish. Orcas and humpback whales also visit Bowie. But a full biological accounting hasn't been done. Should it? Should we delve deeper into this mysterious world of an undersea mountain?
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