[Coral-List] new mesophotic reef discovered in Tahiti

[Dennis Hubbard]

Hi Doug:

The article isn't clear on specifically where this "discovered" reef is, so
I'm not arguing that this is hype. However, I distinctly remember
organizing a group dive on a very similar reef about 10km east of the ICRS
meeting venue when the meeting was in Tahiti... and in 30 meters of water..
One of my greatest surprises was seeing a "shallow-water branching-coral
reef" at those depths. However, on reaching the bottom we were swept back
and forth about 30m at a time by the huge (and, more important, long-period
ground swell. I remember it vividly because my dive buddy was Paul Enos,
one of the early pioneers of understanding paleo-reef systems from a
geologic perspective. I remember Paul's wife asking me on the dock to "look
out for him" and thinking, "are you kidding"?

If anyone does know where this reef sits on the south shore, please let me
know. This was like seeing "an old friend".

Denny
Giant pristine coral reef discovered off Tahiti

On Sat, Jan 22, 2022 at 8:36 AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Very high coral cover, reef goes from 100 feet down to 230 feet, reef is 2
> miles long.
>
> https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60047368
>
> Video of the reef:
>
> https://www.wsj.com/video/watch-scientists-study-rare-coral-reef-discovered-near-tahiti/0FFF8DE0-48DD-474B-AB1B-9068B2D0BE45.html?mod=djem10point
>
> Cheers, Doug
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
> NOAA Fisheries Service
> Pacific Islands Regional Office
> Honolulu
> and:
> Coral Reef Consulting
> PO Box 997390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA
>
> Over 1 million sq km more land cleared for crops
>
> https://www.science.org/content/article/cropland-has-gobbled-over-1-million-square-kilometers-earth-s-surface
>
> Peat bogs hold TWICE as much carbon as the world's forests!!!
>
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/environmentalists-fight-protect-peat-bogs-233902101.html
>
> Slashing emissions by 2050 isn't enough.  We can bring temperatures down
> now.
>
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/climate-deadlines-super-pollutants-hfcs-methane/2021/04/15/acb8c612-9d7d-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html
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-- 
Dennis Hubbard - Emeritus Professor: Dept of Geology-Oberlin College
Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 935-4014

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"