Crucial though they are, such deep-dwelling corals are rarely glimpsed and easy to overlook. They don't get much notice from us on the surface. Here are five reasons they are worthy of respect—and attention.
1. Deep Doesn't Mean Deserted
Deep corals are strikingly similar to their shallow, tropical relatives, but get much less attention. While they don't form typical coral reefs, aggregations of these species can transform the rocky seafloor into a neon garden, 10,000 feet down.
These "gardens" are crucial feeding grounds in a part of the ocean where food can be scarce. They also act as nurseries for juvenile fish, crabs and shrimp, and provide a hard surface where sea stars and crustaceans can settle.
2. If You Love Seafood, You Need Deep Corals
Shrimp, crabs, grouper, rockfish and snapper that rely on deep corals support the diets and jobs of hundreds of thousands of people. Eighty five percent of economically-important fish in Alaska's Aleutian Islands use deep-sea coral habitat at some point in their life cycle. And a 2010 article in the journal Marine Resource Economics concluded that these corals are essential habitat for redfish in Norway.
3. They're Catalysts for Scientific and Medical Advances
Deep-sea corals provide unique opportunities for medical and climate research. Bamboo corals, which have been found deeper than 1,000 meters, have skeletons like bone. By better understanding these corals, scientists may develop more effective bone-grafting techniques.
Deep corals can also live for hundreds or thousands of years. As they grow, their skeletons form additional bands or layers, like tree rings, that reflect the chemical environment around them. The skeletons of long-lived specimens give researchers a window into the ways that ocean conditions, like temperature and nutrient availability, have changed over time.
4. Living Deep Won't Save Corals From Human Harms
In some places, these deep gardens are dying.
Commercial fishing is one major threat. Bottom trawling ships drag large, weighted nets across the seafloor that indiscriminately catch anything in their way. Roller-frame trawls have heavy cylinders attached to the bottom of the net, which can bulldoze entire ecosystems in just a few hours.
Offshore oil drilling can also harm fragile corals. Oil spills hit deep-sea corals in much the same way they impact shallow, tropical reefs. In the Gulf of Mexico, a 2012 study showed evidence of tissue damage, stress, and coral death from samples collected 290 to 2,600 meters below the surface, likely from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Climate change adds additional challenges. Unlike their tropical cousins, deep corals don't have symbiotic algae living in their tissue, so they don't bleach and die when the water gets too hot. But they are vulnerable to changes in pH, which are also brought on by climate change.
As more carbon dioxide dissolves into the oceans, seawater becomes more acidic. Both deep and shallow corals have a harder time building their skeletons as a result. Since deep-sea corals grow slowly, it can take hundreds of years for them to recover.
5. Deep-Sea Corals Get Overlooked in Favor of Flashier Reefs
If deep-sea corals disappear, so will the fish, crabs, and sharks that rely on them. In a series of expeditions, Oceana and its partners have explored these lesser-known corals and their habitats in the Philippines, Canada, Europe and U.S. Pacific. But little has been done to protect these deep-sea corals. In 2015, less than 1 percent of total U.S. giving from private foundations was for ocean-related grants. More than half of the $17.6 million that private foundations gave for coral work that year went to tropical corals.
Deep corals might not offer the tropical-vacation allure of reefs in the Caribbean or Asia, but they're just as vital.
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Eye-Catching Designs Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles
The company sells a range of eco-friendly items like leggings, rash guards, and board shorts that are made using recycled post-consumer plastic bottles. There are currently 16 causes represented by distinct marine-life patterns, from whale shark research and invasive lionfish removal to sockeye salmon monitoring and abalone restoration.
One such organization is Get Inspired, a nonprofit that specializes in ocean restoration and environmental education. Get Inspired founder, marine biologist Nancy Caruso, says supporting on-the-ground efforts is one thing that sets Waterlust apart, like their apparel line that supports Get Inspired abalone restoration programs.
"All of us [conservation partners] are doing something," Caruso said. "We're not putting up exhibits and talking about it — although that is important — we're in the field."
Waterlust not only helps its conservation partners financially so they can continue their important work. It also helps them get the word out about what they're doing, whether that's through social media spotlights, photo and video projects, or the informative note card that comes with each piece of apparel.
"They're doing their part for sure, pushing the information out across all of their channels, and I think that's what makes them so interesting," Caruso said.
And then there are the clothes, which speak for themselves.
Advocate Apparel to Start Conversations About Conservation
Waterlust's concept of "advocate apparel" encourages people to see getting dressed every day as an opportunity to not only express their individuality and style, but also to advance the conversation around marine science. By infusing science into clothing, people can visually represent species and ecosystems in need of advocacy — something that, more often than not, leads to a teaching moment.
"When people wear Waterlust gear, it's just a matter of time before somebody asks them about the bright, funky designs," said Waterlust's CEO, Patrick Rynne. "That moment is incredibly special, because it creates an intimate opportunity for the wearer to share what they've learned with another."
The idea for the company came to Rynne when he was a Ph.D. student in marine science.
"I was surrounded by incredible people that were discovering fascinating things but noticed that often their work wasn't reaching the general public in creative and engaging ways," he said. "That seemed like a missed opportunity with big implications."
Waterlust initially focused on conventional media, like film and photography, to promote ocean science, but the team quickly realized engagement on social media didn't translate to action or even knowledge sharing offscreen.
Rynne also saw the "in one ear, out the other" issue in the classroom — if students didn't repeatedly engage with the topics they learned, they'd quickly forget them.
"We decided that if we truly wanted to achieve our goal of bringing science into people's lives and have it stick, it would need to be through a process that is frequently repeated, fun, and functional," Rynne said. "That's when we thought about clothing."
Support Marine Research and Sustainability in Style
To date, Waterlust has sold tens of thousands of pieces of apparel in over 100 countries, and the interactions its products have sparked have had clear implications for furthering science communication.
For Caruso alone, it's led to opportunities to share her abalone restoration methods with communities far and wide.
"It moves my small little world of what I'm doing here in Orange County, California, across the entire globe," she said. "That's one of the beautiful things about our partnership."
Check out all of the different eco-conscious apparel options available from Waterlust to help promote ocean conservation.
Melissa Smith is an avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker, and all-around outdoor enthusiast. She graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in journalism and sustainable studies. Before joining EcoWatch, Melissa worked as the managing editor of Scuba Diving magazine and the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a non-profit that's featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral.