Sarah Minks Hardy holds an octocoral as tall as she is, found in a trawl on September 22. The live, intact specimen helped other scientists aboard identify the pieces of octocoral skeletons they had found in deeper waters in the preceding days.

Sarah Minks Hardy holds an octocoral as tall as she is, found in a trawl on September 22. The live, intact specimen helped other scientists aboard identify the pieces of octocoral skeletons they had found in deeper waters in the preceding days. Image courtesy of 2009 RUSALCA Expedition, RAS-NOAA.

RUSALCA 2009

RUSALCA 2009: September 24 Log

NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery