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Give yourself a moment to breathe deep and take in the beauty of these deep-sea coral and sponge gardens. Deep below the ocean's surface underwater mountains are home to spectacular sponge and coral gardens. Forests of stunning, old-growth corals thrive on seamounts and other hard-rock environments in the dark, cold waters of the deep ocean where they provide critical habitat for a wealth of fishes and invertebrates. These unique cold-water corals have become a research priority due to their importance as oases of life in the deep ocean, as well as concern for their safety in view of their extreme vulnerability to deep-sea trawling or other non-natural corals and sponges create complex, three-dimensional structures that provide habitat for many other animals such as crabs, snailfish, and blob sculpins. Learn more about how MBARI researchers are working to help conserve deep-sea coral communities: Video production team: Madison Pobis, Kyra Schlining, Susan von Thun Video editor: Madison Pobis Guided meditation: Susan von Thun Follow MBARI on social media: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: Tumblr: LinkdIn:
