Massive undersea mountain discovered beneath Chile. It is home to ghostly 'Casper Octopus' which can...

A massive undersea mountain has been discovered by a team of oceanographers off the coast of Chile which is taller than the iconic Mount Olympus of Greece and is hosting many rare sea creatures.

The Schmidt Ocean Institute of California's researchers have recorded the never-seen seamount, which is spread over 1.9 miles from the Pacific Ocean floor and has a thriving ecosystem, as per the organisation.

The unnamed peak, which is located nearly 900 miles from South America, was discovered by the team during their 28-day expedition on theR/V Falkorvessel during which the sea floor was mapped by them using the sonar system beneath the hull.

“Sound waves go down and they bounce back off the surface, and we measure the time it takes to come back and get measured. From that we get a really good idea (of the seabed topography),” said Jyotika Virmani, the institute’s executive director,while speaking to CNN.

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Virmani emphasised that to date the scientists have been able to map only a quarter of the ocean floor even though they have covered 71 per cent of the surface of the Earth.

The newly-discovered underwater mountain is taller than Mount Olympus which is 9,570 feet high.

But it is smaller than Japan’sMount Fuji which is 12,388 feet high.

Rare sea species thriving on undersea mountain

According to scientists, there are at least 100,000 seamounts, which are more than 1,000 meters in height, across the globe which are unique and vital habitats of some sea species.

The latest mountain, which was found off Chile, was filled with ancient corals and sponge gardens.

The oceanographers used an underwater robot to film a rare Promachoteuthis squid which was living in the mountain. This was the first time the creature was seen alive on the mountain.

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The scientists also found the ghostly white “Casper Octopus” which marked the first time such an eight-legged critter was spotted in the southern Pacific. So far, it has never been captured by scientists and hence it does not have an official name.

The oceanographers also spotted two rare Bathyphysa siphonophores - which were known as flying spaghetti monsters because of their string-like appearance.

These creatures were discovered during the third trip of R/V Falkor to the Nazca Ridge which could soon become the first protected marine area of the world in international waters, according to a new United Nations treaty which was adopted in 2023, as reported by CNN.

“Across the three expeditions, we managed to map and explore 25 seamounts, which is quite a number to explore. I think we’ve got some good data as a community that could be put forward to make the case that this is a really interesting region for protection," Virmani said.

Before the expeditions of Schmidt Ocean Institute this year, nearly 1,019 species were believed to living in this portion of the Pacific Ocean, which has now reached 1,300.

(With inputs from agencies)