Map showing the locations of Bear, Kelvin and Manning seamounts. Click image for larger view.

Mountains in the Sea

July 11 – July 19, 2003

This summer, with the help of the Alvin submersible, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and educators visited several little known seamounts in the North Atlantic, along with at least one previously unexplored seamount, to study various aspects of deep-sea octocorals and other organisms living on and around the seamounts.

The primary objective was to map, collect, and identify deepwater corals, fishes, and miscellaneous invertebrates from the seamounts, with special attention to whether corals are most abundant at the crest of the seamount and whether they form important habitat for other species, such as benthic fishes, when the corals are particularly abundant.

Background information for this exploration can be found on the left side of the page. Daily updates and more detailed logs and summaries of exploration activities are posted below and to the right.

Updates & Logs Click images or links below for detailed mission logs.
	The Mountains in the Sea cruise is complete! Read about the team's experience in the Mission Summary. View the Alvin discovery's on the New England Seamount chain. (Quicktime, 4 Mb.)
	July 18 The final dives of the mission at Bear Seamount allows the science party to see a variety of marine life.
	July 17 The science team dives at Bear Seamount and examines octocorals. Take a closer look at coral polyp patterns. (Quicktime, 696 Kb.)
	July 16 After a dive on the Kelvin Seamount, the samples need to be catalogued for further studies. Exploring the mysteries of seamounts. (Quicktime, 548 Kb.)
	July 15 The science team dives to Kelvin Seamount for the first time and examines their coral specimens.
	July 14 The Alvin submersible dives down to the Manning Seamounts to determine how deep sea corals reproduce. Visit the coral "garden." (Quicktime, 732 Kb.)
	July 13 Scientists in the Alvin submersible discover a field of deep water corals the size of trees!
	July 12 The exploration party is still in transit, but they gather to discuss their plans for the mission.
	July 11 The 2003 Mountains in the Sea exploration has begun! Join the science party as they prepare to explore the New England Seamount chain.
Other Stories
	See the perspective of Joe Haberstroh, a Newsday reporter, in the Voyage of the Atlantis.
	Visit the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's Dive & Discover Web site to read more about this expedition (Click on Expediton 7 - New England Seamounts).

(top)