NOPP Photo of the Month – Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Corals and Habitat

The deepwater coral pictured was taken in the Gulf of Mexico lease block Green Canyon 354 at 525 m as part of the FY 08 NOPP project led by Dr. James Brooks of TDI International, Inc.

A primary goal of the study was to obtain a predictive capability for the occurence of rich cnidarian hard ground communities in the deep (greater than 300 m) Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, the project studied six shipwrecks to determine identity, preservation state, and associated biological communities and artificial reef effects. A total of four ship cruises were completed and 25 natural sites of deepwater coral communities were discovered, of which 15 had never before been explored and 11 contained previously unknown coral communities. The deepest occurence of deepwater coral was at 627 m and the shallowest was at 320 m. The researchers discovered an area approximately 7 nm from the Mississippi Canyon 252 lease block that contained a small field of corals that were apparently impacted by the Deepwater Horizon incident.

Photo by Chuck Fisher / Pennsylvania State University