Pink soft corals, with their polyps extended, cover a carbonate outcrop at Pinnacle, a large seafloor feature near Southern Hydrate Ridge. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, Dive R2228, V22.

Soft corals and bacterial mats cover the sediment and carbonate rock crevices at Pinnacle, near Southern Hydrate Ridge. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, Dive R2228, V22.

A bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea) seen at Pinnacle, west of the main seep sites at Southern Hydrate Ridge. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, Dive R2228, V22.

Soft corals dot the rough carbonate surfaces of the ~ 60 m-tall limestone monolith west of the active seeps at Southern Hydrate Ridge. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; ROPOS Dive R1779; V14.

An ~60 m tall carbonate pinnacle, west of the active seep site at Southern Hydrate Ridge, hosts abundant soft pink corals and is a rich habitat for squat lobsters, clams, a variety of fish, and crabs. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; Dive R1779; V14.

A beautiful soft coral attached to hard substrate at Southern Hydrate Ridge, near Einstein's Grotto. Photo Credit: NSF-OOI/UW/CSSF, Dive R1750, V14

mage of soft coral taken by the ROV ROPOS on dive R1750 at the Summit of Southern Hydrate Ride. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; Dive R1750; V14.