Open water over Cordell Bank belies nothing of what lies below. (photo: Gulf of the Farallones NMS)

Computer imagery shows the topography of Cordell Bank, the proximity of Farallon Islands, and the steep drop-off of the continental shelf to the west of the Bank. (photo: USGS Woods Hole)

Computer imagery showing one of the pinnacles of Cordell Bank. (photo: Cordell Bank Expeditions)

A computer-generated sonar image of the entirety of Cordell Bank. (photo: Cordell Bank Expeditions)

Surveying the submerged habitat of Cordell Bank. (photo: Cordell Bank Expeditions)

A diver from Cordell Bank Expeditions discovers a small sediment pocket on the Bank. (photo: Cordell Bank Expeditions)

The same diver pictured amid the granitic pinnacles of the Bank. (photo: Coredell Bank Expeditions)

Juvenile rockfish hang out above the lush invertebrate cover on Cordell Bank. (photo: Coredell Bank Expeditions)