These organisms may be an important environmental indicator in the study of long term climate change, as some specimens of bamboo coral have been discovered that are 4,000 years old.

[7][8] The skeletons of bamboo coral are made up of calcium carbonate in the form of tree-like branches alternating with joint-like nodes or axes composed of gorgonin protein.

[9] Bamboo coral was reported in 2005 to have been found on a dozen seamounts in the Pacific Ocean between Santa Barbara, California, and Kodiak, Alaska.

However, based on radiocarbon-based growth rate and age data from specimens in the Gulf of Alaska, the life span has been estimated to be between 75 and 126 years.

The cause of death of the coral community is unknown but it is estimated to have occurred several thousand to perhaps over a million years ago.