Far from human eyes exists an undiscovered world. Veiled by water and far below the surface, the mysterious dark ocean depths are rich with life. Biologists estimate that somewhere between 500,000 and 100,000,000 marine species live in the deep sea. Many are yet to be discovered, some dating back to prehistoric times. But these very species are in serious danger from one of the world's most destructive fishing practices - bottom trawling. Water over a kilometre in depth covers 62 percent of the surface of the globe - this is truly the last undiscovered wilderness left on the planet.
Mountains under the sea
Deep under the ocean, colossal mountains, and mountain ranges rise from the sea floor, their peaks far beneath the surface.
The biggest are called 'seamounts'. Some are bigger than Aoraki/Mt Cook rising over 1,000 metres above the surrounding seafloor. More than 30,000 seamounts are scattered across the earth's oceans. There are approximately 800 underwater mountains in New Zealand waters. Amazingly, the Earth's longest mountain range is not on land but under the sea. The Mid-Oceanic Ridge, winds around the globe from the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic. It is four times longer than the Andes, Rockies, and Himalayas combined.
Mysteries of the deep
We know more about the moon than we do about the deep sea. Only over the last 30 years have we begun to discover the rich and complex worlds of the deep ocean. We have been fascinated by the discovery of water on Mars and its potential for life - but there is underwater life right here that could disappear before we even explore it.
One study of an area half the size of a tennis court found 898 species, over half of which were unknown to science yet modern industrial fishing practices are systematically destroying these areas. See bottom trawling
Seamounts have been home to strange and wonderful creatures for millions of years.
Deep sea treasure
Underwater mountains are oases of life. Nutrient rich currents well up and swirl around their slopes feeding diverse and extraordinary ecosystems.
On some seamounts, groves of towering corals reach up into the darkness, catching food in their open fans. Some corals are thousands of years old, several storeys high, with trunks as thick as lamp posts. These slow growing corals are the ancient forests of the deep. Sea spiders, whelks, octopus, squid and other animals weave their way through the forest while crabs and other crustaceans hide in crevices. In the sediments a myriad of worms, clams, shells and small crustaceans thrive. Many seamount-dwelling species are not found anywhere else on earth, and it is believed that some are confined to only one or two individual seamounts.
These deep-sea coral forests have been home to strange and wonderful creatures for millions of years.
Orange Roughy - A fish that may live over 150 years and doesn't breed until it is 20 to 30 years old - lives around seamounts, and gathers above them to spawn.
Giant squid - Grows up to 12 metres long and weighs in at 300kgs. No one has ever seen one in the wild - just one example of how little we know about the deep.
Giant Sea Spiders - These are basically bundles of legs that sometimes grow to about 12 inches (30 cm) across.
Mantis Shrimp - By weight, some species of mantis shrimp rank among the most formidable animals on Earth. The force of the strike of a large Californian species approaches that of a 22-calibre bullet, and is capable of breaking double layered safety glass.
Whales and sharks - These predators can be found in the deep ocean and around seamounts. Sperm whales dive to hunt squid. The Pacific sleeper shark is the biggest known deep sea fish, up to 7 metres long.
Bottom trawling
The beautiful and extraordinary life on seamounts and other deep sea areas are under serious threat - by bottom trawling, one of the most destructive fishing practices ever devised.
Armed with acoustic fish-finders and satellite technology, trawl fishing is now happening at greater depths than ever before around New Zealand and around the world.
Bottom trawl nets are enormous. The biggest bottom trawl nets that hit the sea floor have mouths as wide as the length of a rugby field and are three storeys high. Weighted across the bottom with heavy steel rollers that indiscriminately smash and crush corals, they swallow everything in their path. To apply the same methodology on land would be like dragging a massive net across entire fields, cities and forests in the hope of catching a few cows.
When hauled onboard, ever-decreasing tonnages of over-exploited orange roughy and oreo spill across the deck, and so too does the trawl 'trash'. This unwanted bycatch includes the endangered deep-sea reef-forming black coral, threatened giant mussels and clams, barnacles and squid.
Bottom trawling clearfells the ancient coral forests of the sea. No one knows how long it takes for these communities to recover, or even if they can.
Very little is known of deep-sea fish biology, but it is all too apparent that the fish stocks, like the ecosystem, are collapsing. Some New Zealand populations of orange roughy are now estimated to be only three percent of their original size.
Since exploratory deep-sea fishing began in the 1970s, the New Zealand fishing industry has been at the forefront of deep sea fishing.
New Zealand - World Leaders in Destruction
With local New Zealand waters now depleted of commercially viable fish stocks they have moved on to more lucrative grounds. New Zealand companies now bottom trawl in international waters, where no rules govern their fishing. They have traveled as far as South Africa, Europe and the Azores in their tireless quest. Kiwi companies like Amaltal, lead the world in this deep sea destruction.
Comments
I just wanna say that the info on this blog is gr8! I was having trouble with an assignment, and I looked here and found out all about your expeditions! Just what I needed :D
I think what you're doing is fantastic-keep up the good work guyz, coz without you the environment would suffer!
Thanx again, and stay safe!
Luv, Nikki xoxo
