600-mile long coral reef discovered at the Amazon!

Zee Media Bureau

At the time when the whole world is facing the third coral bleaching event, the discovery of the new coral belt in the muddy waters off the mouth of Amazon came as a silver lining.

A team of international scientists from Brazil and United States announced that the mouth of Amazon river is a home of massive coral reefs that stretches for some 600 miles.

Covering an area of about 3600 miles of the ocean floor, the new coral system supports over 73 species of fish, 60 species of sponges, spiny lobsters and other forms of reefs life.

The region of their existence has created a lot of buzz because corals mainly thrive in fresh, saline and equatorial waters but the newly discovered system is blooming well in the muddiest waters of Amazon river plume.

Amazon plume is an region where Amazon river meets Atlantic ocean creating a plume where fresh water mixes with salty ocean water.

This incredible discovery was made when scientists were on their expedition into Brazil Exclusive Economic Zone.

"We brought up the most amazing and colorful animals I had ever seen on an expedition," said Patricia Yager, principal investigator of the project.

In the study published in journal Science Advances, scientists claim that the reef system is in a healthy state.

(With PTI inputs)