2. Multimedia
  3. Image of the Day
  4. November 8, 2021

November 8, 2021: Crinoid

While we may often think of crinoids as animals firmly attached to the seafloor, some of them are in fact adept free-swimming animals. This one was seen swimming through the water column during a dive to explore the south side of Bank 9, located about 50 nautical miles south of Pearl and Hermes Atoll, as part of the 2015 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters off Hawaiʻi expedition.

Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2015 Hohonu Moana. Download larger version (jpg, 835 KB).

While we may often think of crinoids as animals firmly attached to the seafloor, some of them are in fact adept free-swimming animals. This one was seen swimming through the water column during a dive to explore the south side of Bank 9, located about 50 nautical miles south of Pearl and Hermes Atoll, as part of the 2015 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters off Hawaiʻi expedition.