Scientists just realized the true scale of a massive coral habitat was hiding off the Southeast U.S. for decades

It has been known for many decades that there are coral networks in cold water that lived in the deep part of the Atlantic Ocean, near the southeast United States. There were some coral mounds and reefs that were identified through surveys. However, these findings only hinted at something far greater.

With the assistance of NOAA Ocean Exploration and its research partners, a comprehensive study of the seafloor mapping data collected through years revealed a much bigger story than coral formations in certain areas of the ocean bottom. According to NOAA, it turned out that corals created one huge habitat, occupying more than 6.4 million acres. The finding unveiled one of the biggest and most extensive coral reef habitats on Earth.

A pattern, not a shocking finding


This discovery cannot be regarded as shocking, just like many others, made by marine exploration. This is because scientists have known about the existence of coral mounds in the area. This time, it was surprising not due to the type of organisms found but the extent of their habitat.

According to NOAA, large coral mounds were discovered there back in the 1960s. However, at the time, scientists considered such features as isolated formations located randomly across the seafloor. With more studies carried out, however, the story changed.

When scientists gathered information provided by various sonar scans, it became clear to them that the systems of corals were linked across an extensive area of the Blake Plateau, creating a continuous ecosystem. This discovery highlights the significance of ocean mapping and exploration, according to the NOAA Ocean Exploration’s announcement. The agency added that high-resolution mapping technologies enabled scientists to determine “the extent and connectivity” of the habitat.

Significance of cold-water corals

While tropical coral reefs can be found only in the warm, shallow areas of the oceans, cold-water corals can survive in the cold depths. Unlike their relatives, cold-water corals do not depend on sunlight to live.

Slow-growing deep-sea corals form extensive reef systems over years and decades.

The role of reef systems

According to NOAA, deep-sea corals create habitats and nurseries for many ocean organisms. These creatures make use of the reef structures to protect themselves. Scientists think that the discovery of this habitat would help them learn more about the connectivity of marine ecosystems over long ocean distances and offer insights into their resilience.

As mentioned on NOAA’s Deep-Sea Corals Fact Sheet, cold-water coral ecosystems have the capacity to live for many thousands of years, which makes them useful environmental archives.

The surprising thing about this hidden habitat is not the discovery of the corals

One of the distinguishing aspects of this particular discovery is that the corals by themselves were not entirely new. The significance of this in the context of earth science lies in the fact that discoveries often occur as a result of mapping and interpretation of known phenomena.

In the field of marine science, such discoveries are often referred to as “pattern discoveries,” as it often takes several years for all the pieces of evidence to be collected to understand the big picture. One of those habitats is the Million Mounds site, which offers a great illustration of that.

The scientists from this mission said in the NOAA materials dedicated to their discoveries that this is precisely why systematic ocean exploration is so important. It helps to uncover connections between various elements of the habitat.

Why this discovery matters to Americans

This factor adds another special layer to this discovery and makes it more relevant for the American audience. It turns out that the site discovered by marine researchers is situated quite close to America and to the areas well studied by Americans. The area lies off the southeastern Atlantic margin and is not situated in any polar region or deep Pacific Ocean trenches.

It shows us that there are still many things unknown, even about those areas located relatively close to our coasts. According to the materials provided by NOAA, there are many areas in the ocean whose floors remain largely unknown despite the years of research.

It’s important to mention that researchers didn’t just stumble upon some completely new kind of creature. Rather, they used advanced technology and cooperation to see the extent of what lay hidden below the Atlantic for years. This could even be called the most astonishing aspect of the whole situation because the mystery itself existed for ages, but scientists only recently found out its size.