That’s planet-earth.
Over the past several decades, coral reefs across the globea> have been shrinking due to a variety of factors, including overfishing and pollution. Recently, however, a stretch of coral reef has been discovered that researchers have described as “pristine.”<
Laetitia Hedouin told the AP that she realized that the reef was worth studying as soon as she saw it. She said it looked like it hadn’t been affected by a bleaching event that occurred in 2019.
The coral reef stretches two miles and sits in unusually deep waters, sitting between 115-feet to 230-feet beneath the surface of the water.
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Researchers have spent 200 hours diving down to the reef to collect samples and take photographs and measurements.
(Alexis Rosenfeld/@alexis.rosenfeld via AP)
This depth posed a challenge for researchers, as they could only spend a limited amount of time on each trip. The divers brought special equipment with them and spent 200 hours taking photographs, samples and measurements of the reef.
Coral are tiny ocean animals that build reefs to live in. These coral reefs are an important part of the ocean’s ecosystem. About 14% of the world’s coral reefs died between 2009 and 2018. Pollution, overfishing and climate change have all been listed as reasons responsible for the decline in coral reef.
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This reef is unique due to its location in deep ocean water and its rose-petal like shape.
(Alexis Rosenfeld/@alexis.rosenfeld via AP)
Researchers are still trying to determine if it’s possible more reefs like this exist in other deep areas of the ocean, or if this is a unique reef. More dives are planned at the reef in the coming months, and the researchers are hoping that their findings will help them locate more reefs of this nature.
