UK's deep sea mountain life filmed.

[Polar Maritime]

Scientists have sent a remotely operated vehicle to film one of the UK's three undersea mountains, known as seamounts.

The Hebrides Terrace Seamount, off the west coast of Scotland, is higher than Ben Nevis, but its peak is 1,000m beneath the surface.

Prof J Murray Roberts, from Heriot-Watt University, and his colleagues filmed more than 100 species on its slopes.

They published their findings in the open access journal Scientific Reports.

Corals will be exposed to more acidic seawater and their skeletons will dissolve awayâ€

Prof J Murray RobertsHeriot-Watt University

Prof Roberts has now shared the footage from the dive exclusively with the BBC.

He and his team used a remotely operated submersible vehicle to explore and film the aquatic mountain slopes.

"These are vast structures in the ocean," Prof Roberts explained to the BBC.

"They're exciting because they grow up through the ocean and have steep sloping sides. [When] the currents hit the sides of the seamount and they stir up nutrients, they become really productive areas."

Prof Roberts and his colleagues watched from a ship-based laboratory while their rover explored the depths.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/28583945

Edited August 4, 2014 by Polar Maritime

[knocker]

He was chatting about this on Today this morning. Very interesting.