San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Divers marvel at ‘pristine’ quality of newfound reef
An underwater mapping project recently took an unexpected twist off the coast of Tahiti, where deep-sea explorers said this week that they had discovered a sprawling coral reef resembling a bed of roses that appeared to be largely unscathed by climate change.
Extending for nearly 2 miles, the reef is remarkably well preserved and is among the largest ever found at its depth, according to those involved in the mapping project sponsored by UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Some even described the condition of the reef, hidden at depths between 98 to 328 feet in the crystalline waters of the South Pacific, as “pristine.”
Alexis Rosenfeld, an underwater photographer from Marseille, France, said the reef lived up to what he had envisioned when he first explored it shortly after its discovery in November.
“This, my dream, is exactly the same as the reality,” Rosenfeld said of the reef, which is about 1.2 miles off the shore.
Rosenfeld, 52, photographed the reef as part of a deep sea exploration project called 1 Ocean, partnering with UNESCO and researchers from CRIOBE, a prominent French laboratory specializing in the study of coral reef ecosystems, and the French National Center for Scientific Research.
The reef occupies an area of the ocean known as the mesophotic zone — from the Greek words for middle and light — where the algae that coral depends on for survival
Explorers from the French National Center for Scientific Research in December examine features of a sprawling coral reef discovered off the coast of Tahiti in French Polynesia.
can still grow but where light penetration is significantly diminished, scientists said.
Unlike coral reefs found at shallower depths, which are often shaped like branches and are more susceptible to being damaged by rising ocean temperatures, scientists said, mesophotic reefs form their floral shape to gain more surface area and receive more light.
Julian Barbiere, the head of
the Marine Policy and Regional Coordination Section for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission at UNESCO, said he was blown away by the expanse of rose petals captured in the photos.
“You can see them as far as the eye can see,” he said. “When they came back and showed the pictures, we were really amazed by the quality of the ecosystem there.”
John Jackson, a film director with 1 Ocean who is involved with the project, compared the reef ’s shape to lacework. In an interview, he said significant work remained when it came to underwater exploration, pointing out that only about 20% of the world’s seabeds had been mapped.