The flat part of the Blake Plateau was originally thought to be soft sediment; however, mapping conducted via the Okeanos Explorer during the Windows to the Deep 2018 expedition revealed that the region is actually composed of many mound features created by cold-water coral communities. During the fourth dive of the Windows to the Deep 2019 expedition, the team encountered what was described as being one of the largest aggregate of thickets of Lophelia coral seen to date.