August 18, 2004
Jon’s Journal: Day 13
BY: Jon Warrenchuk
[editor’s note, by Jason] Jon Warrenchuk is currently participating in NOAA’s 2004 Gulf of Alaska Seamount Expedition.
August 11, 2004:Today was the last day on Welker seamount. Some interesting things have been documented during our 4 days of exploration. Huge fields of glass sponges, a fleeting glimpse of a deep-sea anglerfish, and corals, corals, corals. Bamboo corals, bubblegum corals, red tree corals, and black corals. Shortspine thornyhead, sablefish, scarlet king crab, grooved Tanner crab, spider crabs, squat lobsters, Pycnogonid deep-sea spiders, crinoids, grenadiers, and brittlestars (to name a few).
These names roll off our tongues easily now; we’ve seen varying amounts of these critters on each and every seamount. But on Welker seamount another creature left behind signs of its presence. Lying amongst the corals and sponges was a lost “longline”; commercial fishing gear baited with hooks. Was it lost during a scientific survey of fish populations? Or during exploratory commercial fishing activity?