Coral reef that ‘shouldn’t exist’ thrives off B.C. coast
— It started with a tip from the local First Nation of a “bump on the sea floor” where the fish liked to be and led to the discovery of Canada’s only known live coral reef.
Deep-sea ecologist Cherisse Du Preez worked with the Kitasoo Xai’xais and Heiltsuk First Nations and began searching for the Lophelia coral reef in 2021, taking a remote controlled submersible deep into Finlayson Channel, about 500 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.
On what was to be their team’s last dive for the expedition they found it, a “thriving, beautiful,” ecosystem about 200 metres down.
“You light it up and you realize you’re the first person to ever see this, beautiful pinks and purples and yellows, crevasses, mounts. And once you see past the corals, you realize that there are other animals on them,” said Du Preez, who’s the head of the deepsea ecology program with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “Everywhere you look is life.” All the science and rationale in the world says the coral reef shouldn’t exist here, but the First Nations knew something was there, said Du Preez.
The Fisheries Department announced last week it had closed the area on B.C.’s central coast over the coral reef to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fisheries.
The department said the indefinite closure is “based on a significant scientific discovery as this site, while small, is a globally unique reef that is highly susceptible to damage.
The reef is the most northern known coral reef in the entire Pacific Ocean, it said.
Mike Reid, fisheries manager for Heiltsuk Nation’s integrated resource management department, said his nation always knew that something was supporting the fish in the area, but they didn’t know what it was.
“Lophelia reef is very important to the ecosystem, to the biodiversity of that specific area, it adds to the overall health of that area,” said Reid.
The reef provides habitat and refuge for animals, allowing for the creation of colonies of fish and other creatures.
Du Preez said they found dead coral around the reef, which could be the fault of climate change. A one-degree change in temperature could be devastating for the reef, she said.
Leri Davies, spokeswoman for Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Pacific Region, said officers from their Conservation and Protection Branch routinely patrol marine refuges and closed areas.
“We use a variety of intelligence-led enforcement methods … as well as night and covert patrols, to actively monitor fishing activities in all sectors and ensure compliance with the laws,” said a Fisheries Department statement.