Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Cold water corals are living animals, but their immobile lifestyle makes them appear more like trees in a forest. Some begin their life as free-swimming larvae, carried by currents until they find an ideal location; larvae can detect specific chemical, physical, or biological cues that reveal ideal real estate.
Once a tiny larva locates their new home, they attach to the hard substrate, transform into a polyp, and begin to build a skeleton. While building their own bodies, they are also creating a habitat that will support many other species, such as this octopus and tiny shrimp. Like a forest, they offer shelter, access to food, and mating grounds.
For the coral, home is permanent. Corals can live for hundreds to thousands of years in that perfect spot.
This seafloor community, 1,073 meters (3,520 feet) beneath the Ocean surface, was filmed during the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition, where scientists were searching for deep-sea environments where methane and other chemicals escape from the seafloor, called cold seeps. While exploring, they observed beautiful scenes like this and stunning biodiversity along the country’s continental shelf. To learn more about cold water corals and their role in the deep sea, check out this video from Ocean Census here: youtube.com/watch?v=Ur1Fhn7Ox1k
Credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute
Cold water corals are living animals, but their immobile lifestyle makes them appear more like trees in a forest. Some begin their life as free-swimming larvae, carried by currents until they find an ideal location; larvae can detect specific chemical, physical, or biological cues that reveal ideal real estate.
Once a tiny larva locates their new home, they attach to the hard substrate, transform into a polyp, and begin to build a skeleton. While building their own bodies, they are also creating a habitat that will support many other species, such as this octopus and tiny shrimp. Like a forest, they offer shelter, access to food, and mating grounds.
For the coral, home is permanent. Corals can live for hundreds to thousands of years in that perfect spot.
This seafloor community, 1,073 meters (3,520 feet) beneath the Ocean surface, was filmed during the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition, where scientists were searching for deep-sea environments where methane and other chemicals escape from the seafloor, called cold seeps. While exploring, they observed beautiful scenes like this and stunning biodiversity along the country’s continental shelf. To learn more about cold water corals and their role in the deep sea, check out this video from Ocean Census here: youtube.com/watch?v=Ur1Fhn7Ox1k
Credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute
