Oceanographers have discovered an underwater mountain that is four times taller than the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa.
According to CNN, the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California’s oceanographer has found a 1.9-mile (3,109-meter) tall mountain in the Pacific Ocean 900 miles (1,448 kilometres) off the coast of Chile.
The mountain ranges are home to ancient corals, sponge gardens, and rare marine species, including the white Casper octopus spotted for the first time by any oceanographer.
Moreover, the executive director of the institute, Jyotika Virmani, said, “Sound waves go down and they bounce back off the surface, and we measure the time it takes to come back and get measured. From that, we get a really good idea (of the seabed topography).”
She further added, “It’s important because at the moment only about 26% of the seafloor has been mapped to this kind of resolution. And the seafloor covers 71% of our planet’s surface.”
Rare Octopus And A Squid
The team of oceanographers witnessed marine biodiversity at its peak. They captured a ghostly white Casper octopus, two rare Bathyphysa siphonophores (flying spaghetti monsters), and Promachoteuthis squid.
Virmani revealed, “The (Casper) octopus has never been captured, so it doesn’t actually have a scientific name yet.”
The researchers made the groundbreaking discovery of 20 new species on their third trip to Nazca Ridge, the marine protected area from where previous expeditions collected 150 species
