August 6, 2004
Jon’s Journal: Day 6
BY: Jon Warrenchuk
[editor’s note, by Jason] Jon Warrenchuk is currently participating in NOAA’s 2004 Gulf of Alaska Seamount Expedition.
August 4, 2004: Last night we left Denson Seamount and moved on to Dickins Seamount. Dickins is a shallower seamount, so I’m hoping to see more marine life. The waters above seamounts are supposed to be more productive than surrounding waters, concentrating plankton and zooplankton and the life that depends on them. I pictured swarms of seabirds in the waters above the seamounts, but there was not much evidence of this at Denson. I only saw a few storm petrels skimming the surface waters. Possibly Denson seamount is too deep for upwelling to occur.
Aha, there are a few more birds at Dickins, and diversity is greater too. I see about a dozen black-footed albatross, a few sooty terns, and more storm petrels. It’s still not the circling swarm I pictured in my minds-eye, but it could be a significant observation. There’s also a “boat effect” I need to address; albatross are curious and might come from miles around to check out a boat (there’s not much on the horizon in the middle of the sea). I guess my feature article in “Audubon” will have to wait.