When you think of the vibrant scenery of coral reefs and colorful fish, images of Hawaii or the beautiful Caribbean seas may come to mind. If so, a recent exploration of coral reefs and various fish species in the waters off the coast of Washington State is sure to surprise you.
Researchers suggest that early studies of the light emitted by these marine organisms raised doubts about the potential discovery of a treasure, an unknown ecosystem in the National Marine Sanctuary of the Olympic Coast. Today, the NOAA project has released several images captured by a remotely operated vehicle at depths ranging from 300 to 2,000 feet.
Some of the most impressive images:
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The discovered coral reef provides shelter for schools of rockfish and juvenile fish. Some sharks have laid their eggs and attached them to the reefs so that when the baby sharks hatch, they have everything they need to survive.
The head of the Coral and Reef Protection organization, Timothy Keeney, stated: “We know that deep-sea coral reefs are an important part of the ocean ecosystem, but we know too little about them. Furthermore, research in this area promises to expand our knowledge of the ecological role of deep-sea coral habitats and may even help us understand the future impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on the ecosystem.”
This research began in 2004 when NOAA scientists discovered a few small samples of the stony coral Lophelia pertusa, which is a crucial component of the reef in the Atlantic Ocean but is rarely found in the North Pacific.
Investigator Ed Bowlby from NOAA said: “Our plan aims for this study to help us learn more about life in the deep sea, which is something we have very little documentation about in scientific literature.”
