© NiwaA sonar image of the Tangaroa Seamount.
Scientists are saying the Tanagaroa seamount off the Bay of Plenty coast should be declared off limits to commercial exploitation by fishing and mining.
A group of Wellington scientists have just confirmed volcanic activity on the deep water seamount.
Niwa principal scientist Malcolm Clark says they have discovered new hydrothermal vents, which create chimney-like structures.
"Some of the venting we found was very high temperature, black smoker type situations, where the temperature is several hundred degrees Celsius," says Malcolm.
He has just returned from taking the first biological samples of the animals which have adapted to Tangaroa's unique environmental conditions.
The top of the seamount is nearly a kilometre below the ocean's surface.
"These are species which are adapted to live in quite extreme conditions, high levels of hydrogen sulphide which is toxic to most life forms, quite high temperatures, they're deep, there's no light, they're under quite high pressure," says Malcolm.
The research will help agencies protect these habitats from fishing or mining.
"These seamounts and deep sea areas in general are sites of deep sea trawling for species like orange roughy and they're also of interest for seabed mining," says Malcolm.