document: 2,000-year-old coral found near BP well site 2,000-year-old coral found : Scientists have found 2,000-year-old coral , some of the oldest living organisms on Earth , near the site of the damaged BP Gulf well . Federal scientists say they have dated coral living near the site of the busted BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico at 2,000 years old . The U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday it had determined the age of the black coral in the Gulf for the first time . Scientists had been studying the ancient slow-growing corals before BP 's well blew out on April 20 , 2010 . The corals were found about 21 miles -LRB- 34 kilometers -RRB- northeast of the BP well living 1,000 feet -LRB- 305 meters -RRB- below the surface of the Gulf . '' `` They 're extremely old and extremely slow-growing , '' '' said Nancy Prouty , a USGS scientist . '' `` And there are big questions about their vulnerability and their ability for recovery . '' '' Black corals feed on organic matter sinking to the sea floor and it could take decades , or even centuries , to recover from '' `` a disturbance to these ecosystems , '' '' Prouty said . She said scientists were looking at whether the ancient coral had been damaged by the BP oil spill , but the damage assessment had not been completed . The location of the black coral is important because computer models and research cruises have mapped much of the deepwater oil moving to the southwest of the BP well , away from the black coral colony . Scientists have found dead coral southwest of the well . However , Prouty said the surface oil slick was over the black coral colony during the spill . BP 's well leaked more than 200 million gallons -LRB- 757 million liters -RRB- of oil after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20 , killing 11 workers . Black corals , which resemble deep-sea bushes or trees , are found throughout the world and are an important marine habitat for fish and other forms of marine life . They grow very slowly - a human fingernail grows 2,000 times faster than black coral , USGS said . Most of the Gulf 's bottom is muddy and the coral colonies that pop up every once in a while are vital oases for marine life in the chilly ocean depths . The USGS study was part of a larger federal survey of fragile reef ecosystems .
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