Expedition Reveals Three Previously Unknwon Coral Reefs Off Florida's Coast

On the first expedition using state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicles to survey, map and identify large areas of the ocean bottom, researchers discovered three previously unknown Lophelia coral reefs. The week long mission has revealed extraordinary data about the mostly unknown deep water reefs just off Florida's coast. The efforts of the scientists and crew from the Waitt Institute for Discovery, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University and Woods Hole Oceanograhpic Institute led to the discovery of the reefs, according to a statement from FAU. The reefs are located 35 miles off the coast, about 450 meters deep. The expedition, CATALYST ONE, began on December 4 and by the next day had uncovered the first two deep coral reefs. The third Lophelia coral reef was found on December 7.