Newfoundland Researchers Find Rare Soft Coral Garden

Newfoundland Researchers Find Rare Soft Coral Garden
Cold-water corals, similar to the ones pictured here by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, were recently discovered by Newfoundland scientists near Fogo Island, N.L. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/Handout
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Newfoundland scientists have found an unusual type of coral garden near one of the province’s offshore islands. Researchers at Memorial University’s Marine Institute discovered a cold-water soft coral garden northeast of Fogo Island, N.L., the institute said in a Sept. 24 publication. The coral garden is a rare find, researchers said, especially in such high densities and in such shallow waters. “The richness and abundance of marine life within this habitat is astonishing, and I have never seen anything quite like it at such shallow water depths,” said researcher Emmeline Broad, a PhD candidate at Memorial University, in the article. 
The coral, which lies at a depth of less than 200 metres, covers approximately 10,000 square metres of the sea floor and is composed of a variety of species, including anemones, sponges and basket stars, according to the institute.