Gigantic Coral Reef Discovered (and It’s Deeper in the Ocean Than Expected!)

Off the coast of Tahiti, the main island of French Polynesia, a team of researchers discovered one of the world’s largest coral reefs further down the ocean, a discovery most welcome for the sake of biodiversity.

“It was magical to witness giant, beautiful rose corals which stretch for as far as the eye can see,’ says Alexis Rosenfeld, French photographer and founder of the 1 Ocean campaign. “It was like a work of art.”

Coral reefs are usually found at depths of up to 25m, and the one found near Tahiti is at depths of between 30 and 65m, and is about 3km long and up to 65m wide. The reef is one of the healthiest and largest ones on record, with rose-shaped corals that have a diameter of roughly 2m. A total of near 200 hours of dives were required to evaluate the total coral spawning. The expedition took place in the context of UNESCO’s global approach to map the ocean.