Rare, pristine coral reef found off Tahiti coast
Source: Associated Press
Rare, pristine coral reef found off Tahiti coast
By VICTORIA MILKO
January 19, 2022
Deep in the South Pacific, scientists have explored a rare stretch of pristine corals shaped like roses off the coast of Tahiti. The reef is thought to be one of the largest found at such depths and seems untouched by climate change or human activities.
Laetitia Hédouin said she first saw the corals during a recreational dive with a local diving club months earlier.
“When I went there for the first time, I thought, ’Wow — we need to study that reef. There’s something special about that reef,” said Hédouin, a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Moorea, French Polynesia.
What struck Hédouin was that the corals looked healthy and weren’t affected by a bleaching event in 2019. Corals are tiny animals that grow and form reefs in oceans around the world.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-french-polynesia-environment-and-nature-tahiti-9b392d63cc2033924b3b51a7e26dda07
In this photo provided by @alexis.rosenfeld, researchers for the French National Centre for Scientific Research study corals in the waters off the coast of Tahiti of the French Polynesia in December 2021. Deep in the South Pacific, scientists have explored a rare stretch of pristine corals shaped like roses off the coast of Tahiti. The reef is thought to be one of the largest found at such depths and seems untouched by climate change or human activities. (Alexis Rosenfeld/@alexis.rosenfeld via AP)
= new reply since forum marked as read
