|
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...
|
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.
|
|
Jul 27 2011 - 11:50am
Dr. Martha Nizinski holds a specimen of a fan sponge (Phakellia sp.) collected at a deep-sea coral study site off the coast of South Carolina. Deep-sea corals and sponges provide structure for a variety of other organisms, which use these habitats for protection as well as for finding food and...
|
Jun 7 2011 - 12:45pm
Tree corals like this Calyptrophora bayer can grow several meters high and resemble brightly colored trees. This deep-sea coral was found 1,683 m (5,522 ft) deep on the Davidson Seamount. See more pictures of coral in our Deep-sea Corals article.
|
|
Jun 7 2011 - 12:29pm
Black corals, like this one growing on the Manning Seamount off the New England coast, often resemble bushes or trees. Contrary to its name, the living tissue of black coral can be one of several colors. It’s the skeleton that is black. See more pictures of coral in our Deep-sea Corals article.
|
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Corals, sponges, and algae are the major components of most coral reef communities. To the untrained eye, they are sometimes difficult to tell apart. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in the Coral Reefs section.
|
|
Aug 2 2012 - 4:37pm
Scientists don’t often get the opportunity to travel through time. But nestled among the beautiful coral reefs of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a place that provides a glimpse today of what could be the biggest future threat to coral reef survival: Ocean Acidification.
|
Aug 2 2012 - 3:34pm
Nestled among the beautiful coral reefs of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a place that could provide the key to our understanding of one of the biggest threats to coral reef survival: Ocean Acidification. Here cool carbon dioxide naturally bubbles out of volcanic cracks in the shallow sea floor and...
|
|
Jun 7 2011 - 11:30am
This specimen of the deep-sea coral Desmophyllum dianthus shows the visible bands that help marine scientists learn how ocean conditions changed over time. By looking at the thickness of each band, scientists can estimate how much the corals grew during a given time period. This information sheds...
|
Jan 23 2012 - 3:33pm
Page 1
NOAA Multimedia Discovery Missions
Coral reefs are vibrant ecosystems teeming with color and life. Most grow in the warm sunlit waters of tropical seas. Beautiful and accessible, shallow water corals are beloved by the public and well known to scientists. In contrast, deep-sea corals are...
|
|
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...
|
Dec 19 2011 - 2:48pm
A coral hermit crab, Paguritta harmsi, about the size of two grains of rice, living in coral in the waters of Japan's Ogasawara Islands.
|
|
Jul 27 2011 - 11:09am
This close-up photograph of gold coral (Gerardia sp.) was taken at the Cross Seamount in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 400 m (1,312 ft).
|
Aug 20 2010 - 1:47pm
Crocheted corals from the Smithsonian Community Reef group on Flickr. The community reef project is a satellite reef of the Institute For Figuring’s Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibition, was on display in Sant Ocean Hall from October 16th, 2010 through April 24th, 2011.
|
|
Nov 2 2012 - 11:06am
Dead man’s fingers (Alcyonium digitatum) are soft corals named for their appendage-like appearance when thrown ashore by storms. The finger-like clumps of coral polyps come in various shades of pink, orange, white, grey, or yellow and are found along the northern Atlantic coasts of Europe and North...
|
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...
|
|
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.
|
Oct 14 2010 - 5:48pm
Local yarn and craft shops were highly involved in creating the Smithsonian Community Reef—the local community’s accompaniment to the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibit. The HCCR, created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring, was on display in the Sant Ocean Hall from...
|
|
Aug 12 2011 - 2:04pm
In this brief video clip from NOAA, catch a glimpse of the startling beauty and diversity of life found among deep-sea corals near the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Explore more in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea."
|
Jun 7 2011 - 1:04pm
Marine scientists photographed and measured this gorgonian coral (Chrysogorgia sp.) and deep-sea shrimp (Bathypalaemonella sp.) just as they were collected—together. Find out how ocean scientists study deep-sea corals in our Deep-sea Corals article.
|
|
Jun 7 2011 - 10:38am
Ocean scientists recently discovered this new species of black coral off the coast of southern California.
|
Jul 27 2011 - 9:27am
Deep-sea corals scientist Dr. J. Murray Roberts photographed these living polyps from the Mingulay Reef Complex off Scotland in aquaria in 2010.
|
|
Jan 2 2013 - 10:09am
This deep-sea black coral from Hawaii (Leiopathes sp.) is more than 4,200 years old.
|
Oct 14 2010 - 4:58pm
The People's Reef, a part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, from above. The HCCR was created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring and is on exhibit at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History from October 16, 2010 to April 24, 2011.
|
