Source: Business Insider
Author: Jeremy Berke
The seafloor is one of the last unexplored regions of our watery planet.
On a recent expedition dubbed Deep Search 2018, a group of ocean researchers discovered 85 miles of deep-sea coral reef off the coast of the southeastern US.
“Good news is too rare these days, and this is a victory that we can all share. We have found a pristine coral reef in our own backyard,” Erik Cordes, the chief scientist on the expedition and a deep-sea ecologist at Temple University, wrote in a mission summary.
Deep Search 2018, which took place from August 19 to September 2, was a collaborative project between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the US Geological Survey. The goal of the expedition was to research — and safeguard — the little-understood habitats lurking off the US’s populated East Coast. To collect new information about these deep-water habitats, scientists used a research ship called Atlantis from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
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