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The world's coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, but they're threatened by pollution and warmer seas caused by climate change.聽Fifty percent of the known reefs have died since the 1950s. They benefit the environment by absorbing carbon dioxide and can protect coastal communities from tidal waves and tsunamis.

Now a giant reef has been found at a far greater depth than the known 'shallow' reefs, off the coast of Tahiti in the South Pacific.聽 It's over three kilometres long and apparently in pristine condition. In deeper water than most tropical reefs, it appears at first sight to be mainly made up of so-called rose corals.聽 Dr Julian Barbiere, from the UN's cultural and scientific agency Unesco which led the mission that found the new reef, says the next step is to identify the species on the reef and to come up with an inventory of its biodiversity. He thinks there could be more like this, that remain unfound because we haven't been looking at these kinds of depths, and they may be more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Photo: Exploring the newly discovered coral reef off Tahiti Credit: Alexis Rosenfeld