During Deep Connections 2019, the team conducted a dive fully dedicated to exploring the water column at a site located just north of Bear Seamount, within the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. There had been extensive nekton trawling surveys in the vicinity of this site, as well as several remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives that explored benthic habitats on Bear Seamount, but there had not been midwater ROV dives on the seamount prior this dive. Scientists plan to use the valuable midwater video data for comparisons to historic midwater trawl data.
A multitude of midwater life, including a rattail fish, a hydromedusa, a sawtooth eel, a potentially undescribed ctenophore, a smelt, a red jelly, and a chimaera were among the organisms seen during the dive.
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Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Deep Connections 2019.