This is our dive number 1 of the Deep Connections expedition, 1905 Leg 2.
And this first site is in the Gully Marine Protected Area or MPA
and was a very high priority site targeted by our Canadian partners.
It's a very productive environment.
Upwelling coming up the access of the submarine canyon produces an oxygen nutrient rich environment
that a lot of benthic and pelagic organisms take advantage of.
We have a dense deep-sea coral and sponge community full of a numerous array of organisms.
Very diverse area here.
These bamboo coral forests are amazing.
We've never seen them this dense in The Gully or really anywhere else.
Now we've got this expansive area with it, that's really quite stunning.
It's quite a forest.
This is a really great way to end this dive, it's been amazing.
We never thought we would see what we've seen today, so thank you so much.
I'm sure we'll get lots of great information from it.