A preliminary application of the SEEF for 15 seamounts in the Atlantic
and Pacific is shown here. Parts
A and B are shown as color-coded bars; keys to colors are at the right. Part A
consists of scores for 12 geological, 3 oceanographic and 25 ecological attributes
of each seamount. Color coding indicates the degree of knowledge of each
attribute where red denotes completely unknown, amber an inferred presence and
shades of green the quality of information available; mauve signifies known
absence of this feature.
Conservation status and threats to each seamount are scored in Part B; using
scorers for 8 fishery sectors, 8 conservation issues and 3 protection status
indicators. Items are scored on a ten-point scale of severity from green to
dark red; here unknowns are shaded mauve. Eight fishery sectors, 8 conservation
issues and 3 protection status indicators are listed. Alarm signals are
immediately evident from those seamounts with red codes in the threats section.
For example, in New Zealand, Graveyard seamount has a severe threat from
trawling, Morgue and Graveyard exhibit coral damage, while in
the Azores, Pal seamount has threats from bottom longlines.
Some general features may be quickly visualized from the color-coded SEEF
scores. For example, New Zealand and mid-Atlantic seamounts appear to be better
known than our examples in the Pacific. The conservation status of Azores
seamounts appears to be somewhat better than the New Zealand while the Pacific
seamounts are intermediate to these. However, the SEEF scores for these areas
must be regarded as preliminary findings because the few examples we have been
able to score are not likely to be representative. To increase the utility of
the SEEF, readers are invited to add scores for seamounts with which they are
familiar and add them to examples on the SEEF website.
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