Scottish Coral Reefs?
By Matt J. Weiss, August 5, 2009 @ 01:54 PM (EST)
Source: Scotsman.com
BRILLIANT pinks, purples, yellows and reds shine out from the dark. Shoals of brightly coloured fish dart in and out of reefs rich with sea anemones. sea urchins and sponges.
Coral reefs and the abundant life they support are usually associated with the fertile, shallow and warm waters of the southern hemisphere.
But
these pictures were taken around a mile down in the deep Rockall Trough
in the Atlantic Ocean west of Scotland by a team of marine scientists
using specialist camera equipment.
The team, from the government's Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Edinburgh-based British Geological Survey and the University of Plymouth, were the first to map and photograph five previously undiscovered coral reefs at depths of up to 1,500 metres.
They found dense thickets of metre-high sea fan corals of different hues that had probably taken centuries to form.
As well as the delicate and ornate sea fans, the team also discovered reefs formed by hard corals, similar to those that built Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
The team, from the government's Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Edinburgh-based British Geological Survey and the University of Plymouth, were the first to map and photograph five previously undiscovered coral reefs at depths of up to 1,500 metres.
They found dense thickets of metre-high sea fan corals of different hues that had probably taken centuries to form.
As well as the delicate and ornate sea fans, the team also discovered reefs formed by hard corals, similar to those that built Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
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