These Coral Reefs Off West Africa Were Long Presumed Dead. Scientists Just Found Them Alive and Teeming With Life
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In the 1960s, government-requested fish surveys detected a coral reef barrier off the coast of Benin in West Africa, but it was presumed to be dead. Now, however, researchers have taken a second look and found a flourishing coral ecosystem, they report in a study published on July 19 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.
Reported by 1 outlet — Smithsonian. See all sources ↓
In the 1960s, government-requested fish surveys detected a coral reef barrier off the coast of Benin in West Africa, but it was presumed to be dead. Now, however, researchers have taken a second look and found a flourishing coral ecosystem, they report in a study published on July 19 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Their observations provide the first documented evidence of living low-light coral communities on the Gulf of Guinea’s continental shelf. What’s more, the reefs’ rediscovery is a testament to scientific endurance and sheds light on an understudied marine region.
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- In the 1960s, government-requested fish surveys detected a coral reef barrier off the coast of Benin in West Africa, but it was presumed to be dead. Now, however, researchers have taken a second look and found a flourishing coral ecosystem, they report in a study published on July 19 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.
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These Coral Reefs Off West Africa Were Long Presumed Dead. Scientists Just Found Them Alive and Teeming With Life
Sources1TypeCoverageSmithsonian