Seamount Communities

Seamounts are undersea volcanic mountains that can rise up to 1,000m from the sea bed. They have relatively diverse biota in comparison to the surrounding sea bed supporting corals, sponges, hydroids and sea squirts as well as various commercial fish species such as orange roughy. They also act as a focal point for many top predators such as sharks, rays, tuna and swordfish as well as various cetaceans including bottlenose, common and spotted dolphins.

There are a large number of seamounts across the Mid-Atlantic ridge but the main ones in Scottish waters are Anton Dohrn, Rosemary Bank and the Hebrides Terrace.