
Coldwater coral reef discovered off Faial in more than 900 meters of depth!
It was an unexpected discovery that the LULA1000 team could make during a several-day expedition last august off Faial Island/Azores.
The manned submersible LULA1000, was at a 5-day mission west of the Capelinhos Volcano area, where several dives were carried out between 120 and 950 meters of depth.
While the Capelinhos Volcano area at land is characterized by a desert-like volcano landscape, the underwater scenery couldn´t be more colourful and full of life. An extensive and very diverse coldwater coral reef was discovered in more than 900 meters of depth, with vast abundance of several deep-water coral species, amongst them black corals and several species of stony and hidrocorals.
The site will be studied more thoroughly during future missions.