Cauliflower Soft Coral
Cauliflower Soft Coral: Hidden Beauty Beneath the Waves
Soft coral that looks like cauliflower might sound strange — but beneath the coastal waters of New South Wales lives one of Australia’s most beautiful and fragile species.
The Cauliflower Soft Coral (Dendronephthya australis) forms lilac-pink underwater gardens that seem to glow in the current. Its white-tipped branches create shelter for countless small creatures, including the endangered White’s Seahorse. Yet today, this coral itself is endangered — and vanishing fast.
A living sculpture of colour
Each colony can grow up to a metre tall, with delicate branches that sway in the tide like living lace. These corals thrive in estuaries and sheltered coastal waters, especially around Port Stephens and the Hawkesbury River, where currents bring just the right mix of nutrients and salt.
They anchor to sandy seabeds and need steady water flow — too much sediment or fresh water, and they suffocate.
Fragile ecosystems, fading fast
Over the past decade, Cauliflower Soft Coral populations have crashed by more than 70%. Flooding events, pollution, and sediment from coastal development have wiped out entire colonies. Anchors and boat moorings tear through their habitats, and climate shifts make survival harder still.
But hope exists. Conservation programs in New South Wales are growing and transplanting coral fragments, helping restore small areas of lost reef. Local marine scientists and aquariums are quietly rebuilding what’s been broken.
This coral inspired one of my collages for The Conservation Collage Project — a celebration of the beauty we stand to lose, and a reminder of what’s still worth protecting.
Through art, I aim to bring these unseen worlds to light. The Cauliflower Soft Coral is a story of fragility and resilience — a bloom of life beneath the surface, asking to be noticed.
