Deep Sea Discovery Reveals More on Climate Change

Researchers uncovered a habitat hotspot using a SubC Imaging 4K camera. The discovery could drastically impact our understanding of climate change.

SubC Imaging camera used in the discovery of a Mediterranean Sea hotspot

Researchers believe this discovery could drastically impact our understanding of climate change
While conducting this study, researchers also discovered a deep-water shark nursery filled with hundreds of shark eggs
Experts believe that this shark nursery could be the largest mating location for deep-sea sharks

In April 2021, a collaboration among the University of Haifa’s Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and the Inter-University Institute of Marine Science uncovered a habitat hotspot!

This discovery was of a great methane and brine seafloor seepage at a depth of 1150m. It includes an extensive dense parkland of chemosynthetic tube worms, and other fauna, and an incredibly rich Blackmouth Catshark nursery.

A Decade of Research

This finding is the result of a decade-long collaborative research and capacity building from initial discoveries made based on intuition. Through developing a model for the controls and evolution of seafloor seepage in the area, and utilizing this model and geophysical data to mark potential seepage locations, the University of Haifa’s ROV, equipped with a SubC Imaging 4K subsea camera, investigated the site and made the discovery.

This biomass and biodiversity hotspot is located off the coast of Israel in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, which is detached from the nutrition source and buffering effects of the global ocean system. Therefore, it is currently an ultra-oligotrophic sea with substantially higher deep water temperatures than the rest of the ocean. This area has also been responding dramatically to climate change over recent geological times, and has been impacted by anthropogenic activity since the onset of human civilization.

Preliminary evidence shows that this hotspot existed for thousands -- maybe tens of thousands -- of years! “Studying the paleo records stored in the seafloor can teach us about the drastic environmental impacts of anthropogenic activity and climatic changes, which occurred in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, and the way they work. Together, these studies can serve as a natural early warning system for predicting and mitigating the potential impacts of global change“ said the Charney School’s Dr. Yizhaq Makovsky, one of the initiative’s leading researchers.

An Accidental Discovery

While conducting this study, researchers happened upon a deep-water shark nursery filled with hundreds of shark eggs. The discovery was made by accident, as the researchers were focused on the area's vulnerability to climate change. “This was happening under our noses for thousands of years, right next to Tel Aviv, one of the largest cities in Israel” said Dr. Makovsky.

Experts believe that the shark nursery could be the largest mating location for deep-sea sharks. However, the size of the nursery surprised the researchers, not only for the discovery itself, but also what it means to the region as it pertains to rising sea temperatures. “From a global marine research perspective, this discovery can have enormous implications,” said Dr. Makovsky.