A Million Years in the Making
Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2021. Download largest version (mp4, 70 MB)

During Dive 14 of Windows to the Deep 2021, NOAA Ocean Exploration returned to the "Million Mounds" coral region and explored this 45-meter (148-foot) coral mound within the Stetson-Miami Terrace Deepwater Coral Habitat Area of Particular Concern off Cape Canaveral, Florida. Mounds like this one are made up of dead and living coral and build up slowly over time, up to 300 meters (984 feet) tall, and provide habitat, protection, and food to other organisms.