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Jun 7 2011 - 10:38am
Ocean scientists recently discovered this new species of black coral off the coast of southern California.
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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.
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Jul 27 2011 - 9:54am
Imagine you’re an alien seeing Planet Earth for the first time. What do you see from your spacecraft? A blue planet with over 70% of its surface covered by ocean. From space it’s obvious how important the ocean is to our planet. But we actually know very little about what lives at the bottom of the...
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Oct 5 2012 - 3:42pm
These corals from the Smithsonian collections are Stephanocyathus (A.) spiniger, a solitary, deep-water stony coral species. Around 74% of all deep-water corals are solitary, living as individual organisms instead of forming large colonies like most shallow-water corals. This one has six long...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Rudist clams are mollusks that went extinct about 65 million years ago. They were the reef builders of the Cretaceous Period, the heyday of the dinosaurs. Today corals have taken over the role rudists once filled.
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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.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Shallow water coral reefs straddle the equator worldwide. The shallow coral reefs found in U.S. territorial waters are highlighted in purple in this map. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
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Jun 7 2011 - 10:16am
Lights attached to this modern deep-sea camera system enable scientists to capture detailed images of deep-sea coral reefs and their inhabitants in otherwise dark water.
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Jun 9 2011 - 9:30am
It's a new age of discovery for scientists studying deep-sea corals.
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Jun 7 2011 - 1:28pm
Ocean scientists discovered this 1.5-m (5-ft) tall yellow bamboo coral in 2007 off the coast of Hawaii in 1,459 m (4,787 ft) of water. It is thought to represent a new genus. Learn about more deep-sea discoveries in our Deep-sea Corals article.
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Jul 27 2011 - 10:56am
Two events made me passionate about deep-sea corals. One was my first submarine dive in a deep-sea coral bed off the Hawaiian island of Oahu. There was an incredibly lush community of corals and associated invertebrates that were not well known, let alone understood. A couple of years later, I...
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Jul 27 2011 - 11:12am
The Pisces IV submersible sits on a saddle near Kingman Reef in Hawaii next to a gold coral (Gerardia sp.).
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Jun 7 2011 - 11:59am
A diversity of deep-sea corals—including primnoid coral (Narella sp.), black coral (Trissopathes pseudtristicha), and feather stars (Florometra serratissima)—flourish 2,669 m (8,757 ft) deep on the pristine Davidson Seamount off the coast of California. Explore more in the multimedia...
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Jun 1 2010 - 7:50pm
When you are shopping for gifts and jewelry, steer clear of gifts that use real coral or other marine animal products. Deepwater pink and red corals in particular have been prized for their beauty in jewelry making, but they belong in the sea, not in our homes. Visit SeaWeb’s Too Precious to Wear...
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Oct 14 2010 - 11:33pm
Local crafters who contributed to the Smithsonian Community Reef proved that there is no limit to the colorful reef forms that can be created using hyperbolic crochet techniques. Their wildly imaginative pieces are on display alongside the main installation of the Institute For Figuring’s...
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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...
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Jun 7 2011 - 1:33pm
Discovered in 2004 and named in 2009, this Gersemia juliepackardae coral has been spotted and collected at several seamounts in the northeast Pacific Ocean at depths of 500-2,000 m (1,640-6,562 ft). Learn about more deep-sea discoveries in our Deep-sea Corals article.
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Nov 8 2012 - 10:50am
Ultraviolet light illuminates the growth rings in a cross-section of a 44-year-old deep-sea coral (Primnoa resedaeformis) collected off the coast of Newfoundland at about 1,300 feet (400 meters).
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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...
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Jul 27 2011 - 11:15am
Inside the control van for the remotely operated vehicle Jason, Dr. Brendan Roark and colleagues watch the ROV collecting deep-sea coral specimens. This NOAA expedition took place in November 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Florida. Learn more about deep-sea corals in the ...
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Jul 27 2011 - 12:30pm
I still haven’t gotten beyond the ‘gee whiz’ factor of studying communities of animals in deep-sea coral habitats. Climbing over undersea mountains and along the steep cliffs of submarine canyons using subs and ROVs, I’ve had the opportunity to see some species of deep-sea fishes alive for the very...
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Jun 7 2011 - 11:52am
These deep-sea corals at the Madison-Swanson Marine Reserve in the Gulf of Mexico are protected, along with the marine life they harbor. Learn more about deep-sea corals and marine protected areas in our Deep-sea Corals article.
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Jun 7 2011 - 11:36am
The Oculina deep-sea coral reef at top has not been disturbed by humans. Trawling has devastated the one at bottom. Only about 10 percent of Oculina habitat remains intact. Learn more about vulnerable deep-sea corals in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea."
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Jun 7 2011 - 1:11pm
Searching for useful chemicals, marine scientists grow bacteria associated with deep-sea coral on nutrient agar to identify the bacteria and test their metabolic and biochemical capabilities. Some may be sources of potential medicines. Learn more about how ocean scientists study deep-sea corals in...
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