Massive mountains, canyons and hills rise hundreds to thousands of metres above the sea floor. These sea mounts are the mountains of the underworld. Look out the window to see weird and wonderful fish, crustaceans, corals and other animals, many of which have never been seen before. The sea mounts off the coast of Tasmania are remnants of extinct volcanoes. Sea mounts range from 500 to 1000 metres in height.
Some summits are more than a kilometre below the surface.
Sea spiders crawl through these forests, while slipper lobsters make homes in burrows amongst the rock and coral. A wealth of worms and small crustaceans live in the soft sediment. Dr B. Diversity tells all The most common species covering the Tasmanian sea mounts is a stony coral called Solenosimila variabilis. Rugged terrain and strong water currents make sea mounts difficult to study, so there are many species yet to be classified by science. Trapped nutrients from swirling water currents, plus small mobile animals like shrimps, are the major food source for deepwater fish.