Creeping Chimera in Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Are you creeped out by this chimera creature? Opportunistic feeders, they’re often referred to as ghost sharks but aren’t quite sharks themselves, although they share a common ancestor. Some species of chimera have a tapetum lucidum, a reflective layer of cells behind the retina that increases sensitivity by reflecting light back onto the photoreceptors. This fan-favorite fish was caught on video by ROV Hercules during our dive on a seamount just south of Palmyra Atoll.
This dive site is within the boundaries of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM). The Monument is home to one of the largest and most pristine collections of deep ocean coral reef, seabird, and shorebird protected areas on the planet. Species such as sea turtles, marine mammals, whales, sharks, and manta rays have large migration and foraging ranges that exist throughout the expanded Monument. Millions of seabirds of over 19 different species also forage in the waters of the expanded Monument and raise their young on the island and atoll refuges.
Learn more about this expedition funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.
Kingman Reef & Palmyra Atoll
The deep-water areas around Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll are within one of the largest marine protected areas in the world, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM). Despite a growing number of expeditions to explore deep-sea environments of the PRIMNM, including a 2019 Nautilus expedition, many areas remain unexplored.
