Teeming with an astonishing variety and abundance of marine life, the Atlantic Coast's canyons and seamounts are ocean oases. (See http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/canyons/default.asp for more information.)

1. NRDC: Deep-Sea Treasures
Atlantic Coast Deep-Sea Corals

2. Deep-sea coral communities have been found in abundance in many of the Mid-Atlantic's more than two dozen submarine canyons,
which lie 60 to 100 miles offshore and can plunge as deep as the Grand Canyon. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer
Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

3. Deep-sea coral species are diverse in size, shape, and color. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S.
Canyons Expedition 2013.

4. Unlike shallow-water corals, deep-sea corals do not require sunlight to survive and are commonly found in waters between 50 and
1,000 meters deep. Here, the NOAA remote-operated submersible vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer illuminates a coral 'forest' in a
submarine canyon off the Atlantic coast during a 2013 dive. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S.
Canyons Expedition 2013.

5. Recent expeditions to the Atlantic Coast's underwater canyons and nearby seamounts (extinct volcanoes rising up from the ocean
floor) have resulted in a steady stream of discovery and revelation. In 2013, scientists found this potential new species of black coral
in Block Canyon. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

6. Coral communities form the foundation of deep-sea ecosystems, providing food, shelter from predators, and nursery areas for young
fish and crustaceans. Here, a squat lobster and other marine animals congregate around several corals and sponges -– one of the
corals may be a new species. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

7. This Paramuricea coral off the U.S. Atlantic coast is host to several egg cases (three can be seen attached near the top of the coral's
arms). Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

8. A white Paragorgia coral with sea urchin. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition
2013.

9. The Mid-Atlantic's canyons are considered biodiversity 'hotspots,' containing significant and diverse concentrations of marine life, like
this octopus, various fish and crustacean species, and on up the food chain to marine mammals, like endangered sperm and fin
whales. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

10. Many of the creatures found in these deep-sea environments are breathtakingly beautiful. Here, a rarely-seen bioluminescent
dandelion siphonophore floats in the water column. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Our Deepwater Backyard:
Exploring Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts 2014.

11. A bioluminescent hydromedusa jellyfish seen in Washington Canyon. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Our
Deepwater Backyard: Exploring Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts 2014.

12. A brittle star in Atlantis Canyon can be seen wrapped tightly around a pink octocoral (a subclass of corals named for their eightfold
structural symmetry). Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

13. Corals can be hundreds of years old. Deep-sea corals are exceptionally long-lived and slow growing –- some species grow only 1.5
to 2.5 millimeters a year. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

14. In Baltimore Canyon offshore Maryland, scientists discovered a nearly 15-foot tall colony of Paragorgia or 'bubblegum' coral like this
one. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.

15. Because deep-sea corals are fragile and slow growing, they are highly vulnerable to harm from fishing gear, such as bottom trawls.
This rock face of corals in Block Canyon could be scraped off by one pass of a trawl net, eliminating these important deep-sea
communities for any ecologically relevant period of time. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S.
Canyons Expedition.

16. Shown here is a close-up of a black coral. While the depth and ruggedness of the areas where corals are found in the Mid-Atlantic
has largely protected them from destructive fishing gear, fishing technology and market demands could change. The time to protect
these areas is now. Image adapted from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013.