The seventh ROV dive of the expedition was conducted to the west of the Von Damm site and focused on visiting a series of "hard-grounds" – or areas where sound reflects strongly in sonar images of the seafloor. Most of the dive was spent exploring rocky and sedimented areas with relatively low levels of biota, and then during the last 5 minutes of the planned dive a habitat with dense biota, corals and very diffuse fluid flow was discovered. The on-bottom time for the dive was extended about an hour to characterize the site.