Sunken Treasure: Canada’s Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area

Ocean Networks Canada

Dwight Owens

 Sunken Treasure: Canada’s Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area

The hydrothermal vent ecosystem found at the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca mid-ocean ridge, formed from the pulling apart of the Juan de Fuca and Pacific plates, is characterized by extreme environments and unique organisms . Around the superheated (300°C-400°C), sulfide-rich fluid coming from the vents, towering chimneys of minerals such as sulphide are formed on the seafloor. At a depth of over two thousand meters these seemingly uninhabitable chimneys of superheated, mineral-rich fluid are home to an astonishing array of life. Dwight from Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) will give us a presentation on the work that they are doing there and talk about the new Marine Protected Area designation.