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Off the coast of Tahiti: Researchers discover particularly low

2022-01-20T07:19:48.571Z


The climate crisis and warming of the oceans are affecting coral reefs worldwide. Researchers have now found a huge intact coral reef off Tahiti – in deeper water where it is even cooler.


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Researchers dive off the coast of Tahiti: "One of the largest coral reefs in the world"

Photo: Alexis Rosenfeld/AP

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown and intact coral reef off the coast of the South Pacific island of Tahiti. "It is one of the largest coral reefs in the world," said the United Nations cultural organization Unesco, which supports research into the reef, which is more than 30 meters deep. "The pristine condition of the rose-shaped corals and the extent of the area they cover is a very unusual discovery."

In fact, coral reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia have suffered massively from the effects of climate change in recent years.

According to Unesco, the reef off the island of Tahiti, which belongs to the French overseas territory of French Polynesia, is three kilometers long and between 30 and 65 meters wide.

It is found at a depth of between 35 and 70 meters and some of its corals are two meters in circumference.

"This is a little-explored area," said marine biologist and coral expert Laetitia Hedouin from the French research center CNRS of the AFP news agency.

"What we know well are the well-developed areas between zero and 30 meters depth."

According to Hedouin, its low elevation appears to have protected the coral reef from climate damage.

"The corals show no signs of stress or disease," she pointed out.

In contrast, reefs closer to the surface in French Polynesia suffered from coral bleaching in 2019.

The first exploration of the previously unknown coral reef took place in November.

Special equipment was used that allows such deep dives.

According to Unesco, the research team surveyed the reef in about 200 hours of diving.

The dives are meant to be just the beginning of a long-term exploration of the reef.

Temperature sensors were installed there for this purpose.

Hedouin said that with the discovery of this deep-lying coral reef, deep sea zones should also be considered when designating marine protected areas.

Unesco pointed out that the deep areas of the oceans are still poorly explored.

Only around 20 percent of the seabed has been mapped.

ok/AFP

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2022-01-20

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