Corals Related Content

Jun 7 2011 - 10:04am
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) SeaBed, shown here as it is about to be deployed, has been used to survey deep-sea fishes and coral habitats.
Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
Flower-like clusters of polyps make up this coral colony. Their pink color comes from the zooxanthellae living inside. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
Apr 18 2011 - 1:36pm
Last September, the Citizens of the Sea blog series brought you a story of doom and gloom from the reefs of Bocas del Toro, Panama. That is the time of year we typically study -- and celebrate -- the annual birth of baby corals in the area. We arrived to find very hot water (2010 turned out to...
Jul 27 2011 - 11:07am
Dr.
Aug 14 2012 - 10:12am
Large numbers of grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) were observed at Jarvis Island, an uninhabited Pacific island, during the 2010 Pacific RAMP expedition of the NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai. But most reefs don't have so many sharks. Read about it in the blog post "Reef Sharks Repelled by People...
Jun 7 2011 - 11:44am
A net used to trawl the ocean floor scooped up this large specimen of deep-sea coral. Because the ship was trawling for other species, the coral was discarded as bycatch. Fishing in deep-water habitats poses a major threat to deep-sea corals. Read more about vulnerable coral habitats in our Deep-...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
What is coral bleaching? These white corals in the Gulf of Mexico’s Flower Garden Bank National Marine Sanctuary are bleached due to an increase in water temperatures, which causes corals to lose the microscopic algae that provide them with food. Bleaching spells trouble for coral reefs. Learn more...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
These corals are dead—smothered in sediments and overgrown with algae. The reef is near Komodo Island in Indonesia. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
Dec 4 2009 - 3:39pm
The New England Seamount Chain is the longest in the North Atlantic Ocean. It includes more than 30 major volcanic peaks. Seamounts provide a solid surface for corals and other marine animals to cling to.
Medicines from the Sea
Jan 14 2011 - 12:08pm
You may not think of the ocean as a pharmacy but scientists are developing exciting new medicines from the sponges, corals, and other marine organisms found in the sea. Explore other videos that capture the beauty and mystery of the ocean realm at NOAA Ocean Today.
Dec 4 2009 - 3:37pm
A bright orange sea star (Novodinia antillensis) clings to a large white soft coral (Paragorgia sp.). This photo was taken on the Manning Seamount at a depth of 1,350 meters (4,429 feet) by the remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) Hercules. To learn more about life in the deep ocean, visit the Deep...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Oct 2 2012 - 3:04pm
This colorful coral lives in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. On the whole, this coral reef is the largest single structure built by living organisms and can be seen from space! Although more than one-third of the reef is protected from fishing and other human impacts, it is still 50% smaller than...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Dr. Stephen Cairns is a research zoologist and chair of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. His research focuses on the diversity, distribution, and evolution of deep-water corals—both fossil and living. Learn all about deep sea corals in...
Aug 2 2012 - 2:30pm
Far away from the volcanic CO2 seeps, the water is unaffected and a healthy coral reef flourishes with a diversity of coral species. Closer to the seeps where the water is acidic, the corals barely even grow. Read more about how reef scientist Laetitia Plaisance uses carbon dioxide seeps to study...
Nov 21 2012 - 10:19am
New, white growth emerges from a living deep-sea coral sample that was stained pink, enabling ocean scientists to measure its coral growth rate. Find out more about how ocean scientists study deep-sea corals in our Deep-sea Corals article.
Jul 27 2011 - 9:14am
J.
Jul 27 2011 - 9:21am
This colony of Lophelia pertusa was photographed from the Mingulay Reef Complex off Scotland in 2005. Learn more about the deep-sea coral reefs in our Deep-sea Corals article.
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Compare the healthy coral on the left with the bleached coral on the right. Increased water temperatures caused the bleached coral to lose the microscopic algae that give the coral color and provide it with food. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in the Coral Reefs section.
Aug 17 2011 - 12:09pm
Scientists at the Smithsonian and partnering organizations have discovered a remarkably primitive eel in a fringing reef off the coast of the Republic of Palau. This fish exhibits many primitive anatomical features unknown in the other 19 families and more than 800 species of living eels, resulting...
Oct 14 2010 - 11:48pm
Detail of the Smithsonian Community Reef, a local, community-created "satellite" to the Institute For Figuring's Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibit.
Oct 19 2012 - 11:07am
Red coral necklaces fill a store display window. The United States annually imports around one million live coral animals from tropical reefs for use in aquariums, and is the largest documented consumer of precious red coral, commonly used in jewelry, according to a 2008 SeaWeb report (PDF).
Jun 7 2011 - 1:26pm
Found 1,751 m (5,745 ft) below the surface of Hawaii’s waters in 2007, this orange bamboo coral is 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) tall. It is thought to represent a new genus. Learn about more deep-sea discoveries in our Deep-sea Corals article.
Mar 15 2013 - 9:07am
Corals are sedentery animals, so how do they reproduce? One way is sexually through spawning, when the corals release eggs and sperm into the water (often at the same time due to some sort of trigger). External sexual reproduction occurs when colonies of coral release huge numbers of eggs and sperm...