Finding Nemo? More Like Finding Corals.
“Without exploration, you can’t have science,” said Alexis Rosenfeld, an underwater photographer from Marseille, France. This past November, a coral reef was discovered off the coast of Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia. The reef was discovered by deep-sea explorers taking part in a project called Ocean 1, in partnership with UNESCO, researchers from CRIOBE, a notable French laboratory specializing in the study of coral reef ecosystems, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
First of all, what is 1 Ocean?
1 Ocean, officially named 1 Ocean, The Anatomy, is a project that explores the world to witness its beauty, the dangers that threaten it, and to meet the scientists who are working to understand and preserve it. The project aims to remind everybody of the “abstract and meaningless notion of borders.” The project wants to feed the natural sense of wonder that humans possess by showing treasures of biodiversity, many of which are classified as world heritage while promoting the values of UNESCO and the IOC. Throughout the next 10 years, Alexis Rosenfield and his team will find the most innovative ways to encounter and study marine ecosystems and the scientists who work for their preservation.
You might be wondering, why is it now being discovered?
Most of the world’s known coral reefs are in warmer waters at depths of up to 25 metres. In the case of this reef, it exists for depths down to around 230 feet, which is around the ocean’s twilight zone (scientifically known as the mesophotic zone, which is Greek for middle and light). This is where there’s just enough light to sustain life, and anything further is where the ocean transitions into a never-ending — I mean dark abyss.
The coral reef resembles a bed of roses, extends for around 3 kilometres, is around 65 kilometres wide, and is very well preserved. Coral reefs found at shallower depths are often shaped like branches and are more vulnerable to being damaged by the warming oceans. On the other hand, mesophotic reefs form their floral shape to gain more surface area and receive as much light as possible ☀️.
The reef is primarily composed of 2 coral species: Porites rus is dominant for the first bit of the reef, and Pachyseris speciosa eventually emerges and gradually becomes the dominant species. Both species have a similar look, but Porites rus consists of branch-like corals, in addition to the plate-like corals. French Polynesia faced a significant coral bleaching experience in 2019, but the reef does not appear to have been significantly affected. As a matter of fact, researchers were surprised to learn that the coral was fully intact and healthy, which is a sign that they’ve survived for decades, given that large reefs take between 25 and 30 years to expand and flourish.
So what’s the big deal?
Coral reefs are extremely important to Earth’s biodiversity. They are an important food source, as well as habitat, for several aquatic organisms. The organisms that live on these reefs could be important for medicinal research and the reefs could protect from coastal erosion and tsunamis. But, climate change threatens these ecosystems around the world 🌎.
Due to climate change and the warming temperatures of the oceans, coral reefs are being exposed to coral bleaching. Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to the algae living in their tissues being removed. This occurs due to several factors, including changes in temperature, light, or nutrients. When the coral becomes white, it also exposes its skeleton. In turn, there are several side effects that the corals face. They become vulnerable to disease, their growth begins to become stunted, their reproduction becomes affected and other species that depend on the coral communities are also affected.
The well-known, and probably most famous, coral reef — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — has been facing severe bleaching, affecting an estimated 80% of its corals since 2016. More recently, a 2021 study found that 98% of the reef had been impacted by bleaching since 1998. Despite slowly adapting to higher heat temperatures, the study found that the corals now have less time to recover between more frequent bleaching events 🤕.
Warming oceans and acidification (the continuous decrease in the pH value of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) caused by the Earth’s climate crisis have led to widespread coral bleaching. Last year, scientists found the global area of living coral has declined by half since 1950 due to climate change, overfishing and pollution. The outlook is similarly disappointing, with scientists predicting about 70% to 90% of all living coral will disappear in the next 20 years ⏳.
Steven Mana’oakamai Johnson, a marine scientist at Arizona State University recently researched that 60% to 87% of the world’s oceans are expected to experience destructive biological and chemical changes, including higher levels of acidity and shifts in oxygen levels by 2060, which would drastically harm the Earth’s coral reefs 🤯.
In a special report on oceans in 2019, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the impact on marine ecosystems will worsen if fossil fuel emissions continue at society’s current pace. Even if global warming is limited to 1.5°C, which is the goal of the Paris Agreement, scientists noted that “coral reefs are projected to suffer significant losses of area and local extinctions.” This means that efforts to restore them would basically be pointless at that point, given the enormous stress they already face 😔.
I suppose that The Little Mermaid’s Sebastian didn’t expect coral bleaching when he said under the sea was better, did he?
All negatives aside, does this discovery mean something positive?
This discovery of this reef suggests there may be many more unknown large reefs in our oceans, given that only about 20% of the entire seabed is mapped, according to UNESCO scientists. Until this discovery, the majority of the Earth’s known coral ecosystems were believed to extend to a depth of just 25 metres. This shows how much more of the ocean still needs to be explored. Julian Barbiere, the head of marine policy at UNESCO, said, “The discovery suggests that there are, in fact, many more large reefs out in our ocean at depths of more than 30 metres, which have not been mapped.” Temperature sensors have been placed in the area of the coral reef to analyze why the corals appear to be unaffected by climate change and to monitor its population dynamics. Barbiere said more excursions are planned for the coming months to investigate the reef, and to study how the reef has managed to stay healthy 🕵️.
Governments, marine scientists, and volunteers are currently working on a mission to map the world’s seabed by 2030 to better understand the impacts of the climate crisis, among other factors. Studying the ocean could lead to similar discoveries at deeper depths that would require more extensive protection for the researchers 🧑🔬.
The discovery of this reef in such an untouched condition is extremely good news and could help to inspire future conservation.
👋 Hey, I’m Aneeva! I’m a 16-year-old genomics + gene editing enthusiast, working to understand and research how we could use these 2 technologies together to combat climate-driven issues. If you want to follow along on my journey, subscribe to my personal newsletter! You can also find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
