The dive team from left: Robert Lamb, Lu Lamar, Jon Witman, Brett Seymour, and Evan Kovacs
In honor of world oceans day, here's an update on our work to describe and preserve the unique marine habitat and wildlife on Cashes Ldege. Today the Witman lab is taking a breather onshore after 3 intense days of diving on Cashes Ledge and Star Island in the Gulf of Maine. Led by Professor Jon Witman of Brown University, a team of divers from Brown, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, University of New Hampshire, and the National Parks Service are working to describe the incredible marine life that abounds at Cashes Ledge, a submerged ridge in the Northwest Atlantic (click here for more information). We have the good fortune to work with a crack filming/photography team, including Luis Lamar, Evan Kovacs, and Brett Seymour.
We were awed by the presence of minke whales and basking sharks at the surface in between dives, here 70 miles off the coast of Portsmouth, NH.
Underwater, the kelp forests of Ammen Rock were lush and full of fish! Cod and pollack were schooling all around as we recorded abundances and sizes that far surpassed last year's record numbers.
| We measured the numbers and sizes of invertebrates found on the seafloor, such as this green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis. Since Cashes Ledge is an isolated seamount in the middle of an oceanic gyre, the marine life here may be genetically distinct form populations closer to shore. |  |
Some of the kelp, mostly Saccharina longicruris, was 20 feet long!
Like last year, the kelp biomass on Cashes Ledge is unbelievable. 5kg and 30-80 plants per square meter! To gain an appreciation for just how breathtaking the habitat these kelp create truly is, check out Lu Lamar's beautiful video of kelp swaying in the current.
Dive gear, camera equipment, and the R/V Tioga in the late evening light
This truly is the jewel of the Gulf of Maine. Stay tuned to the Witman Lab and Conservation Law Foundation as we wait for the seas to calm down so we can get back out on the water.
