image
November 8, 2021: Crinoid
While we may often think of crinoids as animals firmly attached to the seafloor, some of them are in fact adept free-swimming animals. This one was seen swimming through the water column during a dive to explore the south side of Bank 9, located about 50 nautical miles south of Pearl and Hermes Atoll, as part of the 2015 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters off Hawaiʻi expedition.
Credit

Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2015 Hohonu Moana.