Scientists discover coral reef near the mouth of the Amazon River

[senona]

Because coral mostly thrives in clear, sunlit, salt water, and the waters near the mouth of the Amazon are some of the muddiest in the world, scientists were surprised to find the coral reef. And it seems to be thriving despite the muddy waters of the Amazon.

Scientists have discovered vibrant coral reef ecosystem near the mouth of the Amazon River that stretches roughly 3,700 square miles -- even though coral isn't supposed to be able to grow there in the first place.

The reef described in the journal Science Advances could shed light on how these delicate organisms, which provide essential scaffolding for so much marine wildlife, might survive in less-than-ideal conditions.

Coral are tiny little soft-bodied animals, related to anemones and to jellyfish, that band together to build their protective, rock-like reefs by pulling calcium and carbonate out of the ocean water. Reefs serve as hot spots of biodiversity, home to a vast array of sea creatures, from crabs, sea urchins and algae to fish, sharks and turtles.

Coral reefs thrive in clear waters along tropical shelves, but river systems like the Amazon are thought to create gaps where they do not grow. That’s in part because the plume of murky, sediment-filled water spilling out from the gargantuan river and into the ocean doesn’t allow much light to come through.

So the discovery came as a total surprise to study coauthor Patricia Yager, an oceanographer at the University of Georgia, who in 2012 set out with Brazilian scientists aboard the research vessel Atlantis to study the plume coming out from the river mouth and flowing into the ocean.

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The downside to this discovery,  the reef, no sooner found, is said to be in danger already
Reason being, the Brazilian government has sold 80 blocks for oil exploration and drilling at the mouth of the Amazon
And 20 of them are already producing oil — some, it is thought, right on top of the reef

There’s a certain amount of irony in the discovery, as the system is already under threat from oil drilling and high levels of fishing in the area, the scientists said.

“Isn’t that always the case — you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone?” Yager said.

The scientists pointed out that, in light of this discovery, assessments of environmental impact would be out of date.

“In the past decade, a total of 80 exploratory blocks have been acquired for oil drilling in the study region, 20 of which are already producing,” the study authors wrote. “These blocks will soon be producing oil in close proximity to the reefs, but the environmental baseline compiled by the companies and the Brazilian government is still incipient and largely based on sparse museum specimens. 

However, on the bright side, new critters have been found too
They found over 60 species of sponges, 73 species of fish, spiny lobsters, stars and much other reef life.

“Unbelievably, he brought up onboard the deck just the most amazing things I’d ever seen ... beautiful, colorful reef animals that I had no idea were down there,” Yager said.

The Brazilian team returned on another boat in 2014 and gathered more samples, ultimately discovering an abundance of corals, sponges, brittle stars and reef fish, among others.

These reefs might serve as steppingstones between the Brazil reefs and the Caribbean reefs and might serve as a temporary refuge for some of the animals that live between them, Yager said.

That is a wonderful find
Now let's just hope the oil companies do not harm it in any way