Scuba divers off the East Coast of Tasmania have given us the first close-up look at the marine life on deep reefs in the Freycinet Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Their footage shows an explosion of colourful sponges, gorgonian fans and other corals, clouds of butterfly perch, and large, tree-forming black corals that may be new to science.
Researchers with the National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub mapped the 200-metre-long reef using multibeam sonar, and conducted surveys using an autonomous underwater vehicle in 2011. But it wasn’t until this past week when technical scuba divers ventured to the bottom between 60 to 80 metres (200 to 260 ft).
复杂的礁石系统位于深水海拔海湾上,该海底粘在高电流区域,从而带来了不间断的营养供应。项目负责人内维尔·巴雷特(Neville Barrett)从Imas说,这些营养“支持生命的绿洲,在生物多样性和保护方面看起来很有价值。”
The area is known to local fishers as Joe’s Reef but its exact location had remained a mystery to scientists and managers. Fishermen occasionally visit the area during good weather, but the overall nature of the habitat and the reef fish and invertebrate it supports has been a mystery.
To learn more about the reef the researchers suggested experienced ‘technical’ divers,塔斯马尼亚水肺潜水俱乐部members James Parkinson and Andreas Klocker, might like to explore it.
“我们使用地图计划潜水,并花了大约25分钟的时间探索礁石西北边缘的垂直墙,深度为68米。”安德烈亚斯·克洛克(Andreas Klocker)说:“这是我们很长一段时间以来最好,最令人兴奋的海洋潜水体验。”
这是潜水员第一次在沿海架子水域看到树形黑色珊瑚。这一发现是詹姆斯和安德里亚斯的第一个发现,对于科学来说是一个令人兴奋的新发现。
“我们现在知道珊瑚礁是王冠上的宝石Freycinet CMR as far as unique features go and we’re keen to explore it further, said Neville. “It’s really exciting to find these amazing reef communities in areas that most people don’t even realise are marine protected areas.”[海洋生物多样性中心]