Dive 20: All That Glitters
Video courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Deep-Sea Symphony: Exploring the Musicians Seamounts. Download (mp4, 31.7 MB)

Precious gold coral was seen colonizing bamboo coral while exploring Middle Bank, just outside Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. During initial colonization, the gold coral rapidly consumes its host; however, overall, these corals grow very slowly and the large sizes of the colonies seen suggest that some of the colonies could be nearly 2,000 years old.

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