Large bottom fish on the Charleston Bump are supported by vertically migrating food chains. Plankton at the sea surface is consumed by vertically migrating midwater fishes and squids. The daily migrations of these midwater species take them to the surface at night to feed, and to depths below 500 meters during the day. In the open ocean, this helps them avoid predators by keeping them in constant darkness. Where the Charleston Bump rises above the bottom, however, these vertical migrators impinge on the bottom during daytime downward migrations, and the wreckfish are there to consume them. This vertical migration completes a transfer of energy from sunlit surface layers to the dark depths where wreckfish dwell (from Weaver and Sedberry, 2001).
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Investigating the Charleston Bump Exploration
