Dead coral reef found alive after 60 years off Benin. In the 1960s, fishing surveys off the West African coast picked up what looked like a deep-water coral reef and wrote it off as probably dead. Nobody went back to check. This summer, a team led by Gérard Zinzindohoué of Benin's fisheries and oceanography research institute (IRHOB) published what they found when they finally returned: living coral more than 50 metres down. Marine biologist Andrew Lewin, host of Ocean Decoded and co-host of the Beyond Jaws podcast, breaks down how the reef was rediscovered and what it should change about the way you read reef news.
The team mapped 11.5 kilometres of seafloor with sonar, found two reef-like signals, then sent down an underwater drone and the Deep Sea Camera System from National Geographic's Exploration Technology Lab. The footage showed eight types of coral and eight fish species, including golden African snappers, blackbar soldierfish, Guinean angelfish, West African goatfish, Monrovia doctorfish, three-banded butterflyfish and two kinds of damselfish. This is a mesophotic coral ecosystem, a "middle light" reef growing in patches on rocky seafloor, deeper than most divers go. Historical records suggest the system could stretch about 40 kilometres (25 miles) along Benin's coast, and the lead author calls it the first confirmed record of a living mesophotic coral ecosystem on the Gulf of Guinea continental shelf. The study is published in Frontiers in Marine Science.
Andrew also walks through the limits. The corals haven't been sampled yet, so the species IDs still need confirming. This was an initial survey of a small area, there's no data yet on the reef's health over time, and no coverage addresses threats or protection. Nobody knows yet whether the reef was dead in the 1960s and recovered or was alive all along. You'll leave with a question to ask every time you read that a reef or habitat is gone: who checked, and when? Then two ways to help: back exploration science led by scientists from the countries where these reefs are, and share stories like this one. Join Andrew live on Ocean Decoded Live, Monday to Thursday at 5 PM Eastern, and go deeper with How to Protect the Ocean and Beyond Jaws, available as podcasts and books.
Chapters:
0:00 - A Coral Reef Story Going the Other Way
1:53 - Benin and West African Coral
3:00 - Eight Corals and Eight Fish Species
4:37 - Presumed Dead Was One Survey
5:37 - Ask "Who Checked?"
Takeaways:
A deep reef off Benin, flagged in 1960s fishing surveys and assumed dead, is alive.
Nobody returned to check it for about 60 years.
A Benin-led team mapped 11.5 km of seafloor with sonar and found two reef-like signals.
An underwater drone and a National Geographic deep sea camera system confirmed live coral more than 50 metres (about 165 feet) down.
The footage showed eight coral types and eight fish species, many of them West African fish rarely filmed.
It's a mesophotic reef, growing in patches in dim "middle light" water deeper than most divers go.
Historical records suggest the reef system could run about 40 km (25 miles) along the coast. Only a small piece has been surveyed.
The lead author calls it the first confirmed living mesophotic coral ecosystem on the Gulf of Guinea continental shelf.
The corals haven't been sampled, health over time is unknown, and threats and protection haven't been assessed.
"Presumed dead" came from one survey. A lot of the ocean sits in the unknown column.
When you read that a reef or habitat is gone, ask who checked and when.
#OceanConservation #MarineBiology #SaveOurOceans #ProtectTheOcean #OceanAwareness #BluePlanet #ConservationMatters #ScienceForChange #SustainableOceans
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