Creatures Move In on Coconut & Wood Seafloor Homes

Sometimes some of the best microhabitats on the flat abyssal plain are terrestrial in nature! While exploring the deep sea in the waters of the Federated States of Micronesia, we found several examples of connections between originally land-based objects and the benthic creatures that make them home in the ocean's depths. These sightings serve as a beautiful reminder of the interconnectedness of our global ocean and the entire planet.

A wood fall is perhaps exactly what you think it’d be- a piece of wood that has become water-saturated and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. This piece of wood has become a mini-ecosystem for a plethora of benthic organisms by providing nutrients (including carbon) and structure for these squat lobsters, snails, and amphipods at 4,990 meters (over 16,300 feet) deep, while exploring a never-before-seen seamount (Unnamed FSM Seamount 4). 

Another unlikely deep-sea home can be a coconut - known to many island cultures across the Pacific as the “tree of life.” The expedition spotted six coconuts on the seafloor in Micronesia, all over 2,000 meters deep. While coconuts can float for months, helping connect and seed new islands, eventually they become waterlogged and sink, bringing tasty nutrients to the deep sea.  Can you spot the associates making their homes on this fruit? 

Ocean Exploration Trust's Deep-Sea Habitats in the Mariana Islands I & II (NA179 & NA180) expeditions are primarily supported by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, with additional support from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for AUV Sentry’s participation. This dive was conducted under a scientific permit from the National Oceanic Resource Management Authority of the Federated States of Micronesia.