On October 20, researchers from Australia’s James Cook Institute discovered a gigantic freestanding coral reef in the Great Barrier Reef. The reef reaches forty meters below sea level and is a mile wide at the bottom. According to researcher Robin Beaman, this is a thriving ecosystem with as yet unknown fish and coral species.
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The Great Barrier Reef is said to have lost more than half of its coral in the last three decades. In 1981 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as the most extensive coral reef ecosystem on Earth. In 2017, these images appeared of the reef that was fading at record speed.
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