It’s Been Thriving for Decades
Reefs the size of this one can take up to 30 years to grow so large, researchers say, which indicates the reef has been thriving for several decades. Some researchers on the expedition said they could see signs of this reef spawning.
Scientists discovered the reef in a part of the ocean known as the mesophotic zone. The region is sandwiched between the shallower parts of the ocean that receive regular sunlight and the deeper, darker parts of the ocean. (“Mesophotic” is an amalgamation of the Greek words for “middle” and “light.”) This zone is the deepest part of the ocean that sunlight can penetrate. It has much less light than shallower waters, but enough sunlight that the algae that corals feed off of can still survive.
