When most people gaze out of an airplane window, they admire the fluffy clouds slowly floating past them. But when New England Aquarium Aerial survey observers look out of a plane, they’re scouring the seas for marine animals swimming far below.
And on August 16, the team was rewarded—big time. While soaring over the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, they spotted over 2,000 animals across 15 different marine species. The Atlantic Ocean marine sanctuary 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod was designated in 2016. It includes four underwater mountains and three deep-sea canyons, landmarks where many different animals feed.
“The diversity of sightings was truly remarkable and a testament to why the Monument is such a special habitat,” Katherine McKenna, a researcher at the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said in a statement. “From regular visitors like do
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