The shallow depth of Bowie Seamount makes it the only underwater mountain off the British Columbia Coast easily reached using
scuba diving equipment. In March 1969, dives were made at the submarine volcano by
Canadian Forces Maritime Command divers from the CSS Parizeau. Two dives were made to the summit where
monochrome photographs were taken to record the environment and some biological samples were gathered to detect possible harmful plants, animals, or bacteria. These specimens were identified at the Pacific Biological Station in
Nanaimo, creating a list of eleven varieties of sea bottom invertebrates. In August 1969, Canadian Forces Maritime Command divers made more dives during scientific studies by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. They found very dense shoals of
rockfish floating over Bowie's flat-topped summit and a variety of bottom life. A number of monochrome photographs were taken and a few
seaweeds were collected, but no species record was created for other types of oceanic life around Bowie Seamount. In November 1996, an issue of
National Geographic magazine included an article titled "Realm of the Seamount", describing dives made at Bowie Seamount by two explorers named Bill Curtsinger and Eric Hiner. They explored the slopes of Bowie Seamount using scuba diving equipment down to . Their photographs featured one of Bowie's rugged peaks thickly covered with seaweeds and colourful sea bottom invertebrates. Shoals of young rockfish were seen on Bowie's steep flanks. Scientist Bill Austin of Khoyatan Marine Lab in the Northeast Pacific examined a video made during the National Geographic dives to identify the
benthic flora and
fauna of Bowie Seamount. From the video, Austin recognized some of the most noticeable invertebrates and noted that a few species generally occurring in the
intertidal zone and in shallow subtidal environments were found deeper than might normally be expected, and were bigger than normal. A team of five divers, led by photographer/videographer Neil McDaniel, visited the seamount August 3–5, 2003 and conducted a biological and photographic survey of the summit down to depths of about . A total of 18 taxa of algae, 83 taxa of conspicuous invertebrates and 12 taxa of fishes were documented, approximately 180 underwater still photographs were taken and approximately 90 minutes of digital video were recorded. Of particular note were the dense schools of rockfish hovering over the summit and numerous curious prowfish. ==Indigenous people==