This close-up could almost pass for a flower in your garden, but appears to be a sponge - probably a "carnivorous sponge" of the cladorhizids. Image captured by the ROV camera around 1000m depth. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, INDEX-SATAL 2010. Download larger version (jpg, 2.2 MB).
The crew launched the ROV for dive 7 at 5º 14.964'N 126º 39.378’E around 0815. The dive began 150m below the summit on the eastern slope of a steep ridge. The top of the ridge was at a depth of approximately 1050m. The pilots traversed the ROV up a steep face of rock that was lightly covered in fine-grained pelagic sediment and contained several different species of corals, sponges and crinoids. The Team captured excellent close-ups of what may turn out to be a number of completely new species for scientists. Biomass appeared to increase as we approached the summit ridge and was mostly dominated by sessile species. We also happened to spot an octopus hiding beneath a pile of rocks. As the sub traveled in a southerly direction down the ridge we found an area with relatively few organisms that appeared to have been recently disturbed. We did not find any evidence of hydrothermal or volcanic activity at this site.
