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The Bowie Seamount Expedition Bowie Seamount is located 180 km west of the Queen Charlotte Islands, rising from the seafloor at a depth of 3,100 m to within 24 m of the surface. In 1998 Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced that the area had been declared a Pilot Marine Protected Area in order to recognize this highly productive and unique ecosystem. Although there have been a number of expeditions to the seamount, the lack of a thorough survey of the summit's marine life has been recognized as one of the primary data gaps. In the summer of 2003, a small group of divers travelled from Campbell River, BC to Bowie in order to carry out a comprehensive biological survey of the pinnacle within scuba diving depths and to document the area with both still photography and digital video. The five-member team included fisherman Gary Grant, photographers Randy Haight, Donnie Reid and Neil McDaniel and biologist Doug Swanston. Over the course of three days the divers carried out biological inventories and collections of fishes, invertebrates and algae. They also shot underwater still photographs and shot about 90 minutes of video. A full report on the findings of the expedition can be found here
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The DANNY & DAVID proved to be the ideal vessel for the trip. Its fish-hold was flooded to provide a means of transporting live specimens. |
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Team members (left to right): Randy Haight, Neil McDaniel, Doug Swanston, Donnie Reid and Gary Grant. Whites Manufacturing provided Catalyst Drysuits. |
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Schools of widow, harlequin and yelloweye rockfish hover over the summit of Bowie Seamount. A dense growth of acid kelps covers the volcanic pinnacle. |
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