Black Corals of La Palma

Glenn Lawyer · Issue 49, Jul/Aug 2009 · pp. 69–79

Products mentioned: Canon 17-85mm, Canon 20D, Tokina 10-17mm, Aquatica A20, Inon Z240, Canon 100mm macro

The edge of the reef is 100 meters off the beach. A brisk surface swim brings us to the buoy. We follow the rope down to the mooring, 22 meters below. Three meters further west the bottom falls away, descending from 25 meters to more than 70. The first bushy shapes appear, ghost-like, at 35 meters. Soon they turn into a forest, continuing down well past the limits that sane divers respect. These are the black corals of La Palma, Antipatharia Wollastoni. In the light of the torch, however, they are orange, or sometimes red. This color comes from living tissue which connects the individual polyps, covering their chitinous skeleton. Each polyp has 6 unbranched tentacles. The polyps are fully exposed. They are unable to retract, and receive no structural protection from the skeleton. Their only defence against current is a slight, weak contraction. It is the skeleton which is black. It is co…