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A sample of Plumarella, a soft coral collected at a depth of 1013' (300 metres) during undersea research of Pribilof Canyon in the Bering Sea.
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The Esperanza is returning to the region to continue research work begun in
2006 - exposing the impacts of overfishing, and documenting some of
these previously unexplored canyon habitats. And this time, to make
life a little easier and even more exciting Esperanza is equipped with
two new mini-submarines capable of diving over 1,000 metres to bring
back photos and video from the depths.
So far large tracts of cold-water corals are being found at between 50 to 1,000 metres. These slow-growing colonies can have lifespans of hundreds or even thousands of years, and act as refuges for all kinds of fish species. They are crucial to the continued existence of this ocean ecosystem, but are also extremely vulnerable to being wiped out by one drag from a bottom trawler's net.
So far large tracts of cold-water corals are being found at between 50 to 1,000 metres. These slow-growing colonies can have lifespans of hundreds or even thousands of years, and act as refuges for all kinds of fish species. They are crucial to the continued existence of this ocean ecosystem, but are also extremely vulnerable to being wiped out by one drag from a bottom trawler's net.
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