During the DEEP SEARCH 2019: DEEP Sea Exploration to Advance Research on Coral/Canyon/Cold seep Habitats expedition, scientists discovered chemosynthetic vestimentiferan tubeworms while exploring methane cold seeps on a research expedition in the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. southeast coast. Found less than 40 miles off the coast of North Carolina, this marked the first time that tubeworms had ever been observed in this part of the Atlantic. The day after making this exciting discovery, the scientists investigated a seep further north and collected additional tubeworms, showing that the tubeworm seen in this video was not an isolated observation.
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Video courtesy of DEEP SEARCH 2019 - BOEM, USGS, NOAA, ROV Jason, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.