Scientists returning from an expedition off the Gulf Coast said Friday they found dead and dying deepwater coral near the BP oil spill site that was covered in a brown substance. The researchers from government and academia worked from ship that had a remotely operated vehicle that took samples and photographs. According to Erik Cordes, a Temple marine scientist on the expedition, when coral is threatened, its first reaction is to release large amounts of mucus, "and anything drifting by in the water column would get bound up in this mucus. That is what this (brown) substance would be: A variety of things bound up in the mucus."