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Dacia and Tritn seamounts photographed for the first time

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LA GRACIOSA, Canary Islands, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Just as there are soaring peaks and deep, dramatic canyons and valleys atop dry land, there are also remarkable geological features hiding beneath the surface of the sea -- many of them undocumented.

Recently, scientists with Oceana, an ocean conservation organization, captured the first images of the Dacia and Tritn seamounts off the coast of the Canary Islands. And the maiden photos are spectacular. The full array of photographs can be found on Oceana's Flickr page.

"This has only been a first look at the unknown sea beds to the north of the Canary Islands," Ricardo Aguilar, the Oceana researcher leading the exploratory campaign, said in a press release. "We need to obtain more data and carry out detailed studies in order to establish protection systems to sustain the unique biodiversity of the Dacia and Tritn seamounts."

Aguilar and a team of scientists are working to map these remarkable geological features off the northwest coast of Africa. Dacia and Tritn are, in fact, part of the same mountain chain that forms the Canary Islands. The mountains also form the island of Madeira, and stretch east all the way to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. Some of the seamounts are actually active volcanos, which continue to grow. One volcanic mount recently added a new island to the Canary Islands.

In the wake of these initial photos, the researchers are continuing to make dives, documenting additional underwater mountain slopes. Divers have been able to explore the tops of these mountains, witnessing forests of black corals, spectacular glass sponges, as well as a plethora of deep sea fish and sharks. But the mountainsides stretch more than half a mile down. To explore this terrain, researchers are using underwater robots.

"These mountains could be considered as the 'other' Canary Islands, some of which, though now submerged, at one time rose up out of the sea," said Helena lvarez, another marine scientist with Oceana. "Spain should study and protect these seamounts so that, together with Portugal, it could provide Europe with an extensive marine protected area where dozens of seamounts would be home to one of the richest and most diverse faunas on the planet."

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Dacia and Tritn seamounts photographed for the first time

5 favorite fall hikes in the San Juans and Gulf Islands

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Outdoors enthusiasts tend to think of the San Juans and B.Cs Gulf Islands as a water-recreation paradise, not a hiking destination. Outdoors writer Craig Romano makes the case that these archipelagos are just as majestic by foot as by boat.

To prove his point, he wrote the recently published Day Hiking the San Juans and Gulf Islands (Mountaineers Books, $18.95), with 136 hikes on both the Washington and British Columbia sides of the border.

People dont realize there are so many hiking trails on the islands, he said. You might see only a few parks on an island map, but all the islands have land-trust preserves. They are private, protected land that are usually open to the public.

Most hikes in his guide can be reached by ferry or car. And the few hikes that cant be accessed by ferry can be reached by water taxi.

There are hikes on coastal ledges and bluffs, beaches and coves. Others visit lighthouses, or traverse forests that were old even when George Vancouver sailed into the Salish Sea, Romano said.

Fall is his favorite time to visit since ferry and hotel rates are lower, crowds are sparse and the forecast is often still sunny. Here are his five favorite autumn hikes included in the guide. (Comments are his.)

Turtlehead Summit, Orcas Island, 5.7 miles, 1,295 feet elevation gain, moderate (in level of difficulty)

Stand atop Turtleback Mountains open, grassy head for one shell of a view its one of the best in the San Juans. Thanks to a recent land acquisition by the San Juan Preservation Trust, the prominent and well-recognized Turtlehead (also known as Orcas Knob) is now connected to the Turtleback Preserve, the second-largest green space on Orcas Island. Stare out at a literal sea of islands: San Juan, Shaw, Jones, Spieden and Stuart, in Washington; and Salt Spring, Moresby, Sidney and Vancouver in B.C.

Mount Warburton Pike, Saturna Island, 3.4 miles, 515 feet elevation gain, moderate

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5 favorite fall hikes in the San Juans and Gulf Islands


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