Sibelius Seamount was first flagged as a likely coral habitat during a 2021 sonar mapping pass that showed unusual seafloor texture at depth. This expedition put a camera on it for the first time.
The garden turned out denser than the sonar data suggested — overlapping stands of soft coral in yellow and pale rose, with visibly less physical damage than Wagner Seamount, likely because Sibelius sits further from any regional fishing lane.
We’re recommending Sibelius as a higher research priority than Wagner for exactly that reason: it may represent a closer-to-baseline coral community, useful as a comparison point for degraded sites elsewhere.