Photos and video taken during ROV transect surveys of Cordell Bank form the basis of a new report from NOAA scientists. The animals and plants living attached to the surface of the Cordell Bank are identified in this first ever quantitative visual census of benthic marine life. The good news from the report chronicles vibrantly healthy populations of corals, sponges, sea stars and other marine life. Scientists have so far been stumped by the mysterious brown and green crusts covering some areas of the Bank. Work for 2017 includes plans to physically sample these mystery crusts, along with some other unidentified organisms. Click here to read the report.
