Mountains in the Sea - Exploring the New England Seamount Chain on RV Atlantis in North Atlantic Ocean between 20030711 and 20030719

This summer, an interdisciplinary scientific team spent 9 days aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's research vessel Atlantis II and used the deep-sea manned submersible Alvin to explore three volcanic seamounts in the New England Seamount chain (Bear, Kelvin, and Manning seamounts). This diverse group of explorers included a scientific complement of ichthyologists, geneticists, reproductive biologists, oceanographers, and a hydrographer, along with educators, program managers, two journalists, several graduate students, and even a scientific illustrator. Because of their isolation, seamounts act as an oasis in an otherwise barren landscape, and are known to harbor species found nowhere else. Since most seamounts in the New England chain have never been explored scientifically, there was great potential for new discoveries during this expedition.