French researchers say they have discovered one of the world’s largest healthy coral reefs, possibly paving the way for similar discoveries in locations that have not yet been explored, Paris-based UNESCO announced Thursday.
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Discovered off the coast of Tahiti, an island in the Pacific Ocean that is part of French Polynesia, the reef has been explored since late last year and is estimated to be almost two miles long. The expedition project 1Ocean, which was involved in the exploration, said the reef’s state of conservation is “unrivaled” at a time when global warming, pollution and overfishing are threatening corals’ survival.
Photos released by the team showed a seabed covered with rose-shaped corals, some of them more than six feet in diameter.
