https://thenarwhal.ca/largest-permanent-protected-area-canada/
"
The Tang.ɢwan-ḥačxʷiqak-Tsig̱is marine protected area will be 133,000 square
kilometres, covering underwater mountain ranges and alien ecosystems
Cherisse Du Preez was staring at a monitor on the bridge of the coast guard
ship John P. Tully as a single line worked its way across the screen. To her
relief, the line was slowly rising, charting the shape of an underwater
mountain as the sonar pings reflected off the bottom.
Then she noticed, with a twinge of regret, that not one but two lines were
forming, contaminating the data she was depending on to prove the existence of
the underwater mountain, known as a seamount.
“It’s going to have this error on it,” she recalled thinking, disappointed. But
the line kept rising, and the regret was soon replaced with elation as the peak
of the seamount appeared on the monitor, pointing up through 1,100 metres of
ocean. She had discovered a new mountain. It was among a flurry of more than 45
seamounts to be discovered off the coast of Vancouver Island in a seven-year
period.
“In 2016 the official number was 20 seamounts in our offshore area — for all of
the Canadian Pacific,” Du Preez said. “Twenty was an impressive number. We’ve
tripled it.”
It’s not typical for a biologist to make this kind of finding. “As a marine
biologist I expected to discover species, not mountains,” she quipped — but a
recent surge in interest in that patch off Vancouver Island has enabled
discoveries of all sorts: from new animal behaviours to new species to new
deep-sea ecosystems; even mountains."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-maternal-health-india-ocean-conservation-canada-palm-oil/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
