Huge Coral Reefs Discovered off Puerto Rico A new discovery of
thriving coral reefs off the coast of Puerto Rico may offer hope
for other shallower reefs. Scuba diving scientists discovered
sprawling and diverse coral reefs at 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150
meters) below the ocean surface within a 12-mile (19-kilometer)
span off the southwestern coast near La Parguera, Puerto Rico.
With the overall health of shallow coral reefs and the abundance
of reef fish in Puerto Rico in decline, this finding brings hope
that deeper fish stocks may help to replenish stocks on
shallower reefs. These mesophotic ecosystems — 'meso' for middle
and 'photic' for light — are the deepest of the light-dependent
coral reefs. Too deep for exploration with traditional scuba
gear, these reefs have until recently remained largely
unexplored because of the cost and technical difficulty of
reaching them. Advances in diving techniques allowed scientists
to safely dive and conduct the new survey. "We had no idea how
extensive, vibrant and div