A 'Pristine' Reef of Rose-Shaped Corals Was Just Found Off The Coast of Tahiti

The coral reef off the coast of Tahiti appears to be unaffected by climate change, according to UNESCO.

UNESCO said it was one of the most extensive healthy coral reefs on record.

The UN heritage agency said that it was unusual to find healthy coral in cooler waters between 30 and 65 meters deep and that it could suggest that there are more reefs in the ocean depth that are safer from the impacts of warming waters.

Divers with special equipment were able to go deeper and spend more time at the reef.

It was amazing to see giant, beautiful rose corals which stretch for as far as the eye can see. It was a work of art according to the founder of the UNESCO partner 1 Ocean campaign.

The coral ispristine. The UNESCO/Alexis Rosenfeld/1 Ocean.

The corals are up to two meters in diameter.

The director-general of UNESCO said that the surface of the Moon is better than the deep ocean.

You should inspire.

The discovery of a reef in such a pristine condition is good news and can inspire future preservation, said Laetitia Hedouin, a marine biologist at French research agency.

Deeper reefs may be better protected from global warming.

Most of the world's known reefs have been found at depths of up to 25 meters and the UN heritage body said the Tahiti reef could suggest there are more areas of healthy coral in the ocean's unmapped "twilight zone".

"This remarkable discovery in Tahiti shows the incredible work of scientists who, with the support of UNESCO, further the extent of our knowledge about what lies beneath," said Azoulay.

The divers are looking at the reef. The UNESCO/Alexis Rosenfeld/1 Ocean.

The newly discovered reef in French Polynesia does not appear to have been affected by the recent bleaching event.

"These corals don't show signs of stress or disease," he said.

Graveyards of bleached skeletons are left when healthy corals become stressed by spikes in ocean temperatures.

Warming threat.

Starfish can eat corals.

The corals appear to be unaffected by climate change, and as part of a program to analyze why, temperature sensors have been placed in the area.

Coral reefs are home to at least a quarter of all marine animals and plants.

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network said in October that 14 percent of the world's coral reefs had been wiped out by pollution and global warming.

Corals in South Asia and the Pacific, around the Arabian Peninsula, and off the coast of Australia were hardest hit.

The oceans absorb more than 90 percent of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions, shielding land surfaces but generating huge, long- lasting marine heatwaves that are pushing many species of corals past their limits of tolerance.

A single event in 1998 wiped out 8 percent of the corals.

Agence France-Presse.