It had long been thought coral reefs only formed in shallow, warm waters.ĭeepwater reefs and pinnacles are much more slow-growing and can take several million years to form. And it wasn't until the 1970s that researchers were able to use subs and cameras to reach the sea floor to document them. While fishermen have for centuries dragged up corals from the deep sea, it wasn't until the early 1900s that scientists discovered these extensive cold-water reefs.

Ross and others have now turned their attention to the Gulf.

The research eventually helped lead to added federal protections for a roughly 23,000 square-mile network believed to be among the largest continuous distribution of deep water corals in the world. Ross was part of a team of researchers that studied deep sea corals in the Atlantic Ocean between North Carolina and Florida. We're still looking, but so far, it's good.' 'And we're very pleased to say so far, that in these locations, we haven't seen a large scale damage to the coral habitats. we would see signs of damage,' Ross said.

Ross and others are conducting research from a Greenpeace ship in the Gulf, using a two-man sub as they work to determine if the corals have suffered damage, or may take a hit from long-term impacts, such as stunted reproduction rates. 'Originally, when we saw the trajectory for the oil spill and where it was going, we were very concerned that these habitats would be impacted,' said researcher Steve Ross of the Center for Marine Science at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Some of the deep sea corals near the spill site were only discovered just last year. So far, it appears the area dodged a bullet, but more research is needed. Scientists are currently in the early stages of studying what effects, if any, BP PLC's April 20 oil well blowout off Louisiana and the ensuing crude gusher has had on the delicate deep sea coral habitats of the northern Gulf. Plankton, tiny suspended particles that form the base of the ocean's food web, float en masse 1,400 feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, forming a snowy-like underwater scene as they move with the currents outside the windows of a two-man sub creeping a few feet off the seafloor.Ĭrabs, starfish and other deep sea creatures swarm small patches of corals, and tiny sea anemones sprout from the sand like miniature forests across a lunar-like landscape illuminated only by the lights of the sub, otherwise living in a deep, dark environment far from the sun's reach.

The spill zone