Sea Treader Leviathan FULL BIOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN: Marine Biologist Explains

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:01]Hello everyone.

[00:00:03]Welcome to the final video in the series covering all of Subnautica's leviathans.

[00:00:08]Got a bit of a short one for you today.

[00:00:09]I don't have too much to say about this guy, so let's get into it.

[00:00:17]Today we have what is probably the most overlooked leviathan, the Sea Treaders.

[00:00:22]It's pretty unique in that it walks across the bottom, something unique to it and hardly seen anywhere else in the game, even including Below Zero.

[00:00:30]It has two hind legs and balances itself with a long snout that it uses to feed.

[00:00:36]If I'm being honest, it fits into the keystone species niche I described with the Reefback leviathan even better.

[00:00:43]And even matches my parallels with the African elephant almost perfectly.

[00:00:48]A large herbivorous species exhibiting herd behavior that migrates around shaping the environment as it goes.

[00:00:56]Oh, and it also has a trunk.

[00:00:58]Now in game, we see them in what is known as the Sea Treaders Path, which is a largely barren seafloor with isolated pockets of smaller species of flora dotting it. However, I highly doubt the Sea Treaders only exist here, and instead likely migrate around the entire crater. Reason being, with an animal this large and numerous, the space within the Sea Treaders Path is too small to support all of them.

[00:01:24]I imagine that if we were able to observe them for long enough, they would move on to the other biomes and larger flora would begin to repopulate the area.

[00:01:33]Upon the Sea Treaders departure, nearly the entire area would be empty of plant life. However, smaller species would likely begin to repopulate.

[00:01:42]These first species have a name in ecology, that being pioneer species.

[00:01:47]They typically do well in harsher conditions and make the area more suitable for the larger flora species to recolonize.

[00:01:55]On Earth, these are often shrubs, lichens, and bacteria, which work together to make the soil the envy of any primary producer, and so biodiversity would increase.

[00:02:07]However, as the more competitive species begin to outcompete others, biodiversity would be expected to decrease, leading to only a few highly competitive flora species, and decreasing the overall health of the ecosystem.

[00:02:21]But, in a healthy ecosystem, the seed traders would migrate back before that happens, eating the larger, more competitive plants, and allowing the less competitive ones to spring up again, maintaining a good balance in the environment.

[00:02:34]While weebacks act as a keystone species by bringing flora to various parts of the planet, seed traders are a keystone species because they consume certain flora. And while they look and somewhat behave like elephants, their actual role in the environment [music] is much similar to a forest or brush fire.

[00:02:54]On Earth, fires are extremely important to the environment because they cull the populations of overly competitive flora species, much like the seed trader. Take this saw palmetto, for example. It's native to Florida scrub forest, and its broad leaves create lots of shade on the ground around it, preventing other plant species from getting any sun.

[00:03:16]If the ecosystem goes too long without a fire, the saw palmetto takes over and biodiversity takes a nose dive.

[00:03:23]However, semi-frequent fires ensure the saw palmetto cannot choke out all the other species, and the other smaller flora are able to spring up faster and have their time before the saw palmetto can start to take over again.

[00:03:37]Of course, fires that occur too frequently are no good because then nothing is able to sprout and reach sexual maturity in time. And massive fires we see today, most often caused by climate change and stupid people with no fire safety knowledge or care are all consuming and leave no ecosystem to return to.

[00:03:56]And so an area would have to rely once again on the pioneer species.

[00:04:01]Despite fire not being able to exist underwater, the world of Subnautica still has a destructive nature of floral biodiversity.

[00:04:09]The Sea Treaders.

[00:04:12]Thank you guys so much for watching.

[00:04:13]With the conclusion of this video, we have officially covered every leviathan in the base game.

[00:04:19]I am seriously trying to get my video covering every creature in the base game out before May 13th, so that it's out before Subnautica 2 drops the next day.

[00:04:30]I am absolutely dead set on doing this, >> [music] >> no matter how much sleep I lose.

[00:04:36]I'm answering people's questions about the leviathans in that one, too. So, if you've got questions about the Sea Treaders or any of the others, this is your last chance to ask before it's too late.

[00:04:46]With that, I got to get going. I need to finish editing that video still.

[00:04:50]Anyway, that's all I got for you guys today. You all have yourselves a good one, and I hope you learned something.