State of the Art Voyage to the Deep

New Zealand and Japanese scientists joined forces on a recent expedition to explore underwater mountains and volcanoes 1000km northeast of the country around the Louisville Seamount Chain and the Kermadec Arc. From the research vessel RV Yokosuka, the team of 14 used a submersible to study the ecosystems of the seafloor.

Dr Malcolm Clark, a scientist from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and Dr Shinji Tsuchida from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) describe the findings in a blog for Scientific American.

The team found some unusual specimens not recognised from other surveys in New Zealand, including a large sponge over two metres long and a bright orange “tulip” Hyalonema sponge.

Clark said: “The voyage brought together a multidisciplinary research team, combined with state of the art submersible technology that highlighted the benefits of strong international cooperation and collaboration in science.”