Forest of Coral Found on Gulfpenn
As the ROV approached the bow of the
Gulfpenn
to begin the initial reconnaissance survey, a number of large white
silhouettes appeared in the distance.
Phillip Spearman, the Sonsub
pilot, carefully maneuvered the ROV closer to the gunwale then zoomed in
and focused the video camera on the first white form. What appeared on
the monitor was a spectacular colony of branching deep water coral.
Coral blooms on Gulfpenn.
A collective “wow” resonated
through the ROV control van. Then Dr. Will
Schroeder, an oceanographer from the
University of Alabama and co-principal investigator in the
biological component of the project, blurted out loud, “Damn! That’s a
big colony of coral, and it looks like Lophelia.” The excitement
didn’t end there. More large coral colonies were immediately sighted,
followed by clusters of colonies called “thickets.”
Then, about an hour and half
later, as the ROV moved towards the stern along the starboard side an
extremely large mass of coral came into view which covered the forward
corner of the pilot house.
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(Left) Location of one of the "walls
of coral" on Gulfpenn.
(Below) Coral on the forward
superstructure of the ship. |
This turned out
to be the first of at least three “walls
coral.” This vertical assemblage of coral colonies measured 20 feet
(6m) in height by 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5m) at its widest point. The
other two “walls of coral” measured approximately 10 feet (3m) by 4˝
feet (1.4m). When these segments of the Gulfpenn video records
are viewed it is easy for the spectator to feel as if they are traveling
through a “Forest of Coral.”
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