Deep-water Coral in the Gulf of Mexico

Deep-water corals are some of the strangest habitats on earth. These corals live at depths of 1000 feet or more where sunlight doesn’t penetrate and where water temperatures can be near freezing. Traditional coral reefs are mostly made up of stony corals, but in the deep ocean, octocorals, black corals and stony corals all thrive. This storyboard describes types of deep-water corals, the ecology of living in an inhospitable environment, deep-water coral management in the Gulf of Mexico, and local scale and global threats to these corals. Launch site