Orange Cup Coral

Photo: Erika Mitchell · CC BY-NC

Dense carpets of orange cup coral cover the upper superstructure and mast of the Andes, creating a vivid colour display that intensifies when polyps expand at dusk. This azooxanthellate species does not need sunlight, thriving on the shaded undersides of the hull and inside the holds where it filter-feeds on zooplankton. Its rapid colonisation of the wreck is a visible demonstration of how artificial reefs accelerate succession by hard-coral species.