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A decidedly defensive stance

Seamounts are underwater mountains found throughout the global ocean. Many seamounts are extinct volcanoes that once erupted from seafloor vents, with lava flows building thousands of meters up from the seafloor. These underwater mountains host coral communities and provide diverse habitats for marine life, such as this gerionid crab on the summit of Yakutat Seamount. Learn more about Life on the Seamounts at the Ocean Science Exhibit Center.

(Photo by Tim Shank, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, DASS 2005 Expedition; IFE, NOAA OE)