Deep beneath the ocean’s surface, fantastical forests teem with life. Towering mountains called seamounts dot the deep seafloor and create oases of life. Sometimes growing as tall as a horse, the bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea) fans knobby branches into the currents. Paragorgia’s feathery polyps feast on plankton and other organic matter carried by currents washing over seamount slopes.
For nearly 20 years, we’ve studied the deep-sea coral communities that thrive on local seamounts. Our underwater robots revealed ancient bubblegum corals on Davidson Seamount, an extinct underwater volcano about 80 miles southwest of Monterey. We documented a stunning diversity of corals-including some species new to science-at this hotspot of marine life. Thanks to public support, these coral gardens are now protected. In 2008, resource managers expanded the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to include Davidson Seamount.
Closer to shore, we’ve deployed a suite of high-tech instruments to study the Paragorgia population at Sur Ridge off the Big Sur coast. By monitoring these coral gardens, we saw how the feeding habits of bubblegum corals change with the season. Time-lapse photography has revealed that bubblegum corals also feed with the daily tides as currents bring food. These daily and seasonal rhythms underscore how deep-sea animals and environments are connected to the surface waters above. Understanding a day in the life of a bubblegum coral can help us understand how a changing ocean will affect this keystone species.
Help us spread the word about protecting the important, but rarely seen, habitats deep below the ocean’s surface. Together, we are a powerful voice for change. The future of the ocean is in our hands.
Learn more about this and other fascinating animals of the deep: www.mbari.org/animal/bubblegu...
More about the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: montereybay.noaa.gov/welcome....
More about MBNMS and Davison Seamount: montereybay.noaa.gov/research...
Script writer: Raúl Nava
Editor: Ted Blanco
Narrator: Lonny Lundsten
Motion Graphics: Madeline Go
Production team: Heidi Cullen, Madeline Go, Larissa Lemon, Raúl Nava, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun
Music: ‘Warm cinematic soundscape 1’ by The Turquoise Moon and ‘ambient meditation relaxation’ by Media Music Group
References:
Barry, J.P., D. Graves, C. Kecy, C. Lovera, C. Okuda, C.A. Boch, and J.P. Lord (2017). Chasing the future: How will ocean change affect marine life? Oceanography, 30(4): 60-71. doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2017.424
Bessho-Uehara, M., W.R. Francis, and S.H.D. Haddock (2020). Biochemical characterization of diverse deep-sea anthozoan bioluminescence systems. Marine Biology, 167(8): 1-19. doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03...
Boch, C.A., A. DeVogelaere, E. Burton, C. King, J. Lord, C. Lovera, S.Y. Litvin, L. Kuhnz, and J.P. Barry (2019). Coral translocation as a method to restore impacted deep-sea coral communities. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6: 540. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00540
Girard, F., S.Y. Litvin, A. Sherman, P. McGill, A. Gannon, C. Lovera, A. DeVogelaere, E. Buron, D. Graves, A. Schnittger, and J. Barry (2022). Phenology in the deep sea: seasonal and tidal feeding rhythms in a keystone octocoral. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 289: 20221033. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1033
Lundsten, L., J.P. Barry, G.M. Cailliet, D.A. Clague, A.P. DeVogelaere, and J.B. Geller (2009). Benthic invertebrate communities on three seamounts of southern and central California, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 374: 23-32. doi.org/10.3354/meps07745
McClain, C.R., L. Lundsten, J. Barry, and A. DeVogelaere (2010). Assemblage structure, but not diversity or density, change with depth on a northeast Pacific seamount. Marine Ecology, 31: 14-25. doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2...