Coral Thrive Off U.S. Atlantic Coast, But Threatened (Op-Ed)

Ali Chase is a senior ocean policy analyst at the NRDC. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

A hidden world thrives more than a mile and a half beneath the waves, in the inky blackness roughly 80 miles offshore the Atlantic's coastline. There you can find corals in all colors of the rainbow and a menagerie of sea life with evocative names, such as the whiplash squid, dumbo octopus, sea butterfly (which is actually a snail), sea toad and tonguefish.

Scientists know little about this amazing life offshore and the vibrant gardens of deep-sea coral communities, but thanks to a series of U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led explorations over the past several years, what they have recently uncovered is remarkable.

Today, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a new report, "The Atlantic's Deep Sea Treasures: Discoveries From A New Frontierof Ocean Exploration," cataloguing many of the new findings since 2011, and urging policymakers in the U.S. mid-Atlantic states to protect these vulnerable and biologically-rich ecosystems now, before it's too late.

More than 40 coral species have been identified on the NOAA Atlantic coast expeditions, at least three of which are believed to be new to science. Some are so abundant that scientists described them as coral "forests." Species of red, black, bubblegum, stony and soft corals have all been found, a number of which were never before known to exist in this region. In Baltimore Canyon offshore Maryland, scientists found a colony of bubblegum coral — so named for their bulbous, pink, branch ends — nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall.

More than 40 coral species have been identified on the NOAA Atlantic coast expeditions, at least three of which are believed to be new to science. Some are so abundant that scientists described them as coral "forests." Species of red, black, bubblegum, stony and soft corals have all been found, a number of which were never before known to exist in this region. In Baltimore Canyon offshore Maryland, scientists found a colony of bubblegum coral — so named for their bulbous, pink, branch ends — nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall
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