Exclusive photos show deep-sea canyon in U.S. waters teeming with life

A stunning array of biodiversity lies at the depths of a marine region that some fear the Trump administration will open to fishing and mining.

pink bubblegum corals and crabs
Pink bubblegum corals provide a suitable habitat for two Gastroptychus crabs possibly competing for territory.
Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic
BySarah Gibbens
Photographs byLuis Lamar
December 10, 2018
9 min read

It felt a lot like a moon landing to the researchers who experienced it—descending thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean into complete darkness. Ambient ocean light extends down only about 600 feet. After that, no amount of straining your eyes will help you see through the inky blackness.

a researcher descending in a submarine

The expedition's research scientists look upward as the submarine Nadir descends into the depths of Lydonia Canyon.

Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic

Scientist Tim Shank and photographer Luis Lamar were descending into Lydonia canyon, one of several among the canyons and underwater mountains sitting 130 miles from Massachusetts, when they were slowly surrounded by darkness.

Descending thousands of feet can take hours.

When the lights affixed to the underwater submersible carrying the researchers were finally switched on, the world around them looked like a different planet.

A sample of solitary hard coral, likely Desmophylum, from Lydonia canyon.
yellow zoanthids with a brittle star
yellow soft corals
pink bubblegum coral polyps
a sea urchin in cup corals
Mysid shrimp living amongst coral polyps
a crab standing with feeding arms
yellow coral polyps
1 of 8
A sample of solitary hard coral, likely Desmophylum, from Lydonia canyon.
Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is made of sprawling underwater mountain ranges and vast canyons—the formations spread out for 4,913 square miles. From the surface of the ocean, it's impossible to see the vibrant Connecticut-size, deep-sea world unless you dive beneath the surface.

“It was like being in an aquarium, but you weren't sure where the aquarium started,” says deep-sea biologist Tim Shank from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “I was speechless.”

For two weeks in September, a team of researchers from Woods Hole, OceanX, and NASA spent time aboard the Alucia research vessel, with funding from OceanX and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

the research ship in Provincetown harbor
The M/V Alucia in Provincetown Harbor awaiting better weather to resume submarine operations in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Operations were temporarily halted in September due to Hurricane Florence.
Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic
a researcher looking over nautical charts
Chief scientist Tim Shank reviews nautical charts to identify suitable dive locations within the monument.
Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic

The goal?

The monument was established by the Obama administration in 2016 to protect a region known to be diverse and yet still largely unknown. Monuments restrict commercial activities like industrial fishing or mining.

RILEY D. CHAMPINE, NG STAFF

SOURCES: THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUST, ESRI, DELORME, GENERAL BATHYMETRIC CHART OF THE OCEANS, NOAA NCEI

Now, the monument is at risk of losing those protections under the Trump administration. Late last year, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke recommended that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument, along with several others, be opened for commercial activities, though the agency has yet to act on this recommendation.

Fearing the area could soon get degraded by human interference, the expedition members were eager to explore the biodiverse ecosystem.

“It's a whole new world down there,” says Rachel O'Neill, a geneticist from the University of Connecticut who was on the trip.

Aboard the ship, O'Neill sequenced the DNA of organisms that were collected below. This not only allowed the research crew to identify new species, but it also helped them learn how organisms are adapting to extreme environments.

“The crux of this is to understand the ecological adaptations that make these coral ecosystems thrive,” says Shank. “We know these corals grow at a very slow rate, so when we see one a foot tall, it could be 500 years old.”

Understanding how deep-sea wildlife grows can help conservationists better protect it, he adds. Even thousands of feet below the sea, ecosystems are not immune to contamination.

“We see plastic bags, cans, shower rods, paint cans—I've seen trash down to 11,000 meters. If you can name it, we've seen it,” says Shank.

a scientist with coral
Chief scientist Tim Shank takes in the vast amount of biodiversity clinging to the western wall of Lydonia canyon at 3,000 feet deep.
Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic

A plastic bag caught on a coral could prevent it from feeding and eventually kill an organism that is home to other species, from fish to invertebrates. Scientists are only just beginning to understand how the deep sea helps wildlife thrive higher up in the water column. Above the biodiverse canyon walls, notes Shank, they've observed higher densities of larger marine creatures like whales, dolphins, and even sea birds.

The team plans to unveil the new species they've discovered as they continue studying samples throughout the next year.

Learning from the deepest reaches

Both Shank and Lida Teneva, an OceanX science officer, say researching deep-sea coral and other organisms could lead to medical breakthroughs. Some species of sea stars, for instance, are able to completely regrow severed limbs, a feat biomedical researchers want to adapt for clinical settings.

The expedition was also an opportunity for Woods Hole and NASA to test an autonomous vehicle called Orpheus.

a submarine with a scubadiver

The Nadir submarine prepares for descent into Lydonia Canyon. Taylor Heyl, a research scientist involved in the expedition can be seen in the submarine as the group descends nearly 3,000 feet into the canyon.

Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic

“It can jump like a grasshopper and move around [on the ocean floor],” says Shank. Able to withstand the intense pressure of the deep sea, it can take measurements and search for signatures of life.

Beyond studying Earth's oceans, the research team says future iterations of the design will be used to explore Europa, a moon orbiting Jupiter that could have an environment suitable for life.

The future of the monument

Conservation groups like Earth Justice and the Natural Resources Defense Council have vowed to fight the administration in court if any steps are taken to roll back protections for the monument.

a shrimp blending in with coral
This banded shrimp lives among the branches of a yellow soft coral, Paramuricea, displayed in this image with its polyps retracted.
Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic

Scientists aboard the Alucia say they've only just scratched the surface of the park. Comparing the monument to Manhattan, Shank says they've only explored a parking space.

Still waiting to be seen are miles of canyons larger than the Grand Canyon and extinct volcanoes—endless stretches of mountain ranges and mysterious sea creatures hidden in the dark.

the research ship along the ocean
An aerial view of the MV Alucia approximately 100 miles off the coast of Cape Cod as scientists embark on a research cruise to investigate deep-sea coral ecosystems within the canyons.
Photograph by Luis Lamar, National Geographic

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