The discovery of a new coral reef area restores hope to protect it from extinction

Coral reefs that live in the depths of water, such as the reefs discovered, will be able to survive and protect themselves from climate change.

An expedition of divers from the " 1 Ocean " campaign supervised by UNESCO managed to discover and photograph giant coral reefs, in the form of roses, in the depths of the waters of the island of Tahiti in the South Pacific.

These reefs raised the astonishment of divers, because they found that they are still preserving their full characteristics, unlike the rest of the coral reefs in the world, which have been affected by climatic changes and the color of many of them has turned white.

The “Ocean 1” campaign is one of the scientific programs launched in 2021 and extending until 2030, founded and supervised by the French professional diver and photographer Alexei Rosenfeld, and he is affiliated with the “Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission” of UNESCO, which was founded 1960's.

This program aims to explore, photograph, document and then study more ocean depths in order to protect the ecosystems and biodiversity in them.

Unfamiliar depths

According to a report by Live Science on January 26, these reefs are about 3 kilometers long and 65 meters wide, and they are located at a depth of up to 55 meters, which is an unusual depth for coral reefs. , where most of them live in depths not exceeding 25 meters, which raised the astonishment of divers.

And because they are located at great depths, these reefs do not receive much light compared to the rest of the coral reefs, and to compensate for this, they take a flat shape so that they can attract the largest amount of light.

Alexei Rosenfeld said in the press release issued by UNESCO on January 20, “The discovery was magical, to see giant coral reefs extending as far as the eye can see. ".

In a statement to Alexei Rosenfeld added, "Within the framework of this program - which I supervised - we have undertaken several exploratory trips in many regions of the world, including the Mediterranean region, which is rich in biological systems and biodiversity that needs protection from threats."

New hope

According to the press release, the discovery of these coral reefs - which are fully preserved - constitutes a new hope for biodiversity experts in order to protect them from extinction.

Coral reefs in various seas and oceans of the world are facing the threat of extinction due to several factors such as plastic and chemical pollution, excessive fishing, and fishing using explosives, as well as due to eco-tourism and climate changes, which are considered the most serious threat to them; Where it caused its whiteness and death.

According to the statement, about 75% of coral reefs bleached between 2014 and 2017 due to climate change.

"We believe that corals that live in deep-water frontiers like the discovered reefs will be able to survive and protect themselves from climate change, and thus conserve, and will undoubtedly inspire experts to work towards Preserve the threatened reefs.