--- title: "New Scan of Seafloor Is So Detailed, You Can See an Individual Crab" description: "Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have created a stunningly detailed map of the seafloor of the Monterey Canyon." date: "2023-07-24" modified: "2023-07-24" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mbari-scan-seafloor-detailed" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "Seabed Exploration" - "the digest" - "underwater" --- # New Scan of Seafloor Is So Detailed, You Can See an Individual Crab ![Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have created a stunningly detailed map of the seafloor of the Monterey Canyon.]() *\Image: MBARI\* ## Crab in the Dark Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have [created a stunningly detailed seafloor map]() of the largest submarine canyon off of the US Pacific coast. Using sonar data collected by submersible research vessels, researchers created a "centimeter-scale resolution" of the "deep-sea Grand Cayon," shedding new light on how it's constantly evolving. The resulting map of the 7.5 miles-across underwater ravine, which extends to a depth of 2.5 miles below the surface, is so detailed that an individual crab can be spotted. Hi crab! ![]() ## Underwater Avalanche The Monterey Canyon formed over millions of years as sediment slumped due to "storm waves, vibrations from fault activity, and random failures in the canyon walls," according to a statement, in what amounts to an "underwater avalanche." And as it turns out, thanks to frequent oceanographic mapping, scientists have discovered that these events occur multiple times a year, and can even bury scientific instruments in the process. "Repeated mapping surveys have given us a valuable new perspective to study the processes that sculpt the canyon," said Monica Wolfson-Schwehr, previously a postdoctoral fellow at MBARI and lead author of a new study about the scan published in the journal *JGR Earth Surface*, in a [statement](). "This is vital context for understanding not only life on the ocean floor but also how the underwater infrastructure that we depend on may be vulnerable to underwater landslides," she added. ## Crab Spotting The data that was picked up by sonar instruments attached to remotely operated vehicles has such a high resolution, it can even show 3D objects, "including living animals with soft tissues," according to the statement. That makes this map "particularly useful for ecological studies," MBARI principal engineer Dave Caress explained. It's a tremendous wealth of data that paints an eerily realistic and ever-changing picture of a particularly active underwater landscape. "As technology advances and we can map at finer and finer resolutions, we can observe a new level of complexity in the seabed," Wolfson-Schwehr said. "We don’t realize how much of the picture we’ve been missing." **More on seabed:** *[Scientists Discover Leak in the Bottom of the Ocean]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()