First Photos of New Amazon Coral Reef System Released
The reef was found in an unlikely place after scientists chased a rumor that it might exist.
The first images of a vibrant coral reef discovered in the Amazon last year have been released.
Environmental advocacy organization Greenpeace released the images, which were taken from a submarine that was launched by one of Greenpeace’s ships, according to the Guardian.
Scientists first stumbled upon the reef during a research expedition in 2012 while chasing a rumor of the reef’s existence, and they later announced the reef’s discovery in a study published in April 2016. Given the region’s murky waters, they were surprised to find one at all in that location.
"We found a reef where the textbooks said there shouldn't be one," study co-author Fabiano Thompson of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro told National Geographic
