Are corals a type of rock?
Corals may often look like rocks or plants but they are really made of very small animals. Although people may associate corals with warmer waters, scientists are discovering that there are substantial and very important deep sea corals in colder waters – such as Canada’s Pacific. Unlike their tropical relatives, deep sea corals cannot rely on the sun to produce food. Instead, each individual coral polyp in the deep sea coral colony uses its tentacles to snare food particles as they drift down from surface waters. This is what allows deep sea corals to live at dark, cold depths – up to 3,000 meters, or even more, beneath the surface. Of the deep sea corals found in Canada’s Pacific waters, those known as “gorgonian” corals (Class Anthozoa, Order Gorgonacea) are often considered to be the most important habitat-formers. Gorgonian coral colonies do not form reefs, but instead can grow in dense ‘forests’ made of many colonies. Gorgonian colonies can be many years old and very large, with
