Research Expedition to Paramount: The Forgotten Seamount

March 6, 2025

Cover image: Alex Hearn

In January 2025, a team of scientists from Universidad San Francisco de Quito and Galápagos Science Center (USFQ-GSC) and the Galápagos National Park Directorate (GNPD) carried out a two-week expedition to Paramount: a shallow-water seamount rising from a depth of over 1,500 m to only 180 m below the surface, located 100 nautical miles northeast of the Galápagos Marine Reserve. The objective of the expedition was to characterize the fish community around the seamount and explore its connections with Galápagos. The work was supported by the organizations Mission Blue, Galápagos Conservation Trust, MigraMar, and Bezos Earth Fund. 

Dr. Alex Hearn, Galápagos Hope Spot co-Champion and lead scientist on the expedition, explained that, “due to their relative inaccessibility, oceanic seamounts are relatively understudied, but often play similar roles to oceanic islands in the marine ecosystem. They tend to aggregate marine wildlife, and may enhance productivity both by elevating the seabed to the zone where the level of light permits photosynthesis, and through local upwelling processes as nutrient-rich deep waters are diverted to the surface.” 

Paramount is the only shallow seamount on Ecuador’s side of the Cocos-Galápagos Swimway: a stretch of 120,000 km2 of ocean connecting the Galápagos Marine Reserve with Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park. Both these areas are UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites, and previous studies have shown that they share similar biodiversity and that several endangered marine species, such as scalloped hammerhead sharks and green sea turtles, migrate between them. As they move, these animals tend to loosely follow an underwater chain of seamounts, known as the Cocos Ridge, as they move. In 2020, the entire area was declared a Mission Blue Hope Spot.  

Since then, Costa Rica has expanded protection around Cocos Island, and Ecuador has created the Hermandad Reserve, which extends protection from Galápagos all the way to Ecuador’s maritime border with Costa Rica. However, Paramount was left unprotected, with Hermandad’s boundary running 17 nautical miles to the south of the seamount. 

“It is important for us to understand whether our conservation efforts within Galápagos and Hermandad may be affected by endangered wildlife spending time at other locations where they are not protected,” explained Harry Reyes, senior marine biologist at GNPD. “To this end, we were able to place satellite tags on ten scalloped hammerhead sharks and four pelagic thresher sharks, allowing us to track their movements.”

Besides tracking sharks, the scientists used baited stereo-video cameras (cameras with bait attached to attract, and then film, predators) to record the presence of marine wildlife in the waters above the seamount. “The camera rigs are deployed on a mother line, with each rig separated by 200 m. We allow them to drift for two hours before recovering them, downloading the recordings, and then redeploying,” said USFQ biologist Maria Antonia Izurieta. “It is tough work, with long hours on small boats, but when we review the footage and see large schools of hammerhead sharks beneath the waves, it can be incredibly rewarding.” 

The scientists also took water samples, which will be analyzed for traces of DNA from organisms in the area. Nicole Bonilla, a team member and biology student at USFQ, was amazed by the megafauna at the seamount. “It took us almost 20 hours of sailing through an apparently empty ocean, but when we arrived at Paramount, we found hundreds of bottlenose dolphins all around us. We could hear their calls from inside our cabins! All the while we were on site, we were accompanied by dolphins, devil rays, boobies, and storm petrels.”

“The expedition would not have been the success that it was, had we not partnered with the crew of the Galápagos artisanal fishing vessel Yualka,” said Dr. Hearn. “The Galápagos Marine Reserve has a history of conflict between fishing and conservation,” added local fisher and Hope Spot co-Champion Manuel Yépez. “Expeditions such as these, where scientists and fishers work together, share their knowledge, and learn from one another, are key to building a more sustainable island community.” 

The team was accompanied by Swedish filmmaker, explorer, and ocean advocate Joakim Odelberg, whose Fragile Hope Initiative and global movement are dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring stewardship for the ocean. A documentary capturing the expedition and its findings is planned for late 2025.

About The Galápagos Science Center

The Galápagos Science Center (GSC), located in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno in San Cristóbal-Galápagos, is a joint initiative between  Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) created in 2011. The GSC is a hub to coordinate scientific research projects between local, national, and international scientists to benefit the Galápagos Islands and the world of science. The GSC aims at identifying the proper balance between the natural environment and the people who live in and visit the Galápagos.  This work requires scientists from different disciplines. In this sense, the GSC houses in more than 13 research areas based on its three fundamental axes: interdisciplinary scientific research, education through science, and community outreach. 

About Galapagos Conservation Trust

Galápagos Conservation Trust was launched in 1995 and is the only UK-registered charity to focus exclusively on the conservation and sustainable development of the Galápagos Archipelago. We deliver programmes that fill gaps in scientific and socioeconomic knowledge, fund local scientists, NGOs and community groups, and partner with Ecuadorian authorities. We advocate for change to protect the wildlife of Galápagos, while amplifying the local voices of Galápagos across the UK and beyond.  

About MigraMar

MigraMar was founded in 2006 as a network of scientists dedicated to research and conservation of migratory marine species in the Eastern Pacific. MigraMar’s mission is to provide the necessary technical advice to support the conservation of these species. . The network is made up of 25 researchers affiliated with universities, government agencies, and non-profit organizations in different parts of the American continent, thus fostering regional collaboration. MigraMar generates key scientific information regarding the migratory patterns of marine species and evaluates and forecasts the state of populations, to increase knowledge about these, understand the role they play in the ecosystem, and how best to preserve them.