Cashes Ledge: Jewel of the Gulf of Maine

Cashes Ledge is an underwater ridge jutting up from the Gulf of Maine continental shelf to within 40 feet of the surface. Located 80 miles off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine, Cashes Ledge is a unique biodiversity and productivity hotspot. The intrusion of seamounts into local oceanography drives a proliferation of benthic invertebrates and pelagic organisms that feed off of plankton. The clear, cold waters also harbor the deepest, densest, and largest kelp forest in the region. These habitats are home to a diversity of fish that are 3 orders of magnitude more productive than in exploited coastal locations. This video describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary team to document the unique habitats and marine life of Cashes Ledge in an effort to have it designated as the first Marine National Monument in US Atlantic waters.