Water Planet Ecosystems: How An Underwater Volcano Is Fertilizing The South Pacific

Water Planet Ecosystems: How An Underwater Volcano Is Fertilizing The South Pacific

There is a volcano beneath the surface of the South Pacific that most people will never see, never hear about, and never think about. But it is doing something extraordinary: it is feeding the ocean. Between Nuku’alofa, the main island of Tonga, and the open sea, the water is extraordinarily clear; it’s the kind of blue that makes you wonder if there is anything living in it at all. The western tropical South Pacific is what oceanographers call …