SCOTLAND -- FOR centuries Scottish fishermen were left baffled as their nets, more used to being filled with fish from the cold seas of the north Atlantic, trawled up pieces of brittle but beautiful coral more usually associated with the warm seas of the tropics. Almost 150 years ago the mystery of the marine growths prompted Philip Henry Gosse – amateur naturalist, inventor of the public aquarium and creationist – to produce the first scientific account of the discoveries. Now scientists using the latest sonar technology to investigate the historic records have announced the first discovery of a reef in UK inshore waters. Conservationists have been amazed by the uncovering of an entire reef in the Sea of the Hebrides, but their find has come as concerns mount that the world's cold water reefs are being destroyed more quickly than they can be found. Later this month, the United Nations is due to publish a major report saying that such coral is much more common than previously thought. Similar reefs have already been found around the coast of Norway or in deep waters, such as the Darwin Mounds, 120 miles north-west of Cape Wrath. Scientists at the Scottish Association of Marine Science, based at Dunstaffnage, near Oban, made the find 300ft down in the seas south-east of Barra. Murray Roberts, who led the Scottish research, said: "Most people think of coral as a tropical thing, so what's interesting about this is that we have a reef in Scottish water. "This is not just one or two lumps or the scattered bush-like growth of coral we found elsewhere, but substantial mounds." They stretch for almost a mile, with each hillock more than 15ft in height and 100ft wide. The researchers believe they may date back 10,000 years to a time when the ice sheets were retreating from Scotland and the seas beginning to warm. They are made up of Lophelia pertusa, the same sort of coral found in most of the Darwin Mounds. Dr Roberts said: "The reefs have a very complicated physical structure, with lots of nooks and crannies which provide plenty of ecological niches for different animals to occupy." His team mapped part of the sea floor around the Western Isles last year, using the Lough Foyle, a survey ship loaned by the Northern Ireland Ministry of Agriculture. | | They based their search on Gosse's reports and historical records of coral swept up in fishing nets. The discovery is the culmination of seven years' research into the distribution of coral in Scottish waters. Early results included finding colonies living on oil and gas platforms. Dr Roberts said the next phase would be to return with remote-controlled underwater vehicles to conduct a visual survey of the coral and its residents. Conservationists have now called for tougher protection of Scottish marine life. Helen McLachlan, marine policy officer at WWF Scotland, said: "This demonstrates how little we know about the amazing biodiversity that exists in our seas." She warned that cold-water corals could support hundreds of species but were vulnerable to towed-fishing gear. The existence of a coral reef in the Sea of Hebrides comes five years after the Darwin Mounds were discovered. Covering 60 square miles, and supporting about 300 varieties of marine life, its significance was compared with the Great Barrier Reef. However, the reef acts as a nursery area for blue ling, round-nosed grenadier, and the orange roughy, which were targeted by European fishing fleets looking for alternatives to haddock and cod. Damage caused by towed gear prompted a series of emergency protection measures, culminating in a permanent ban on bottom trawling. SOURCE - The HeraldCOLD WATER CORALS | | Most coral that forms a hard skeleton exists in shallow, tropical regions.A handful of species can exist in water cooler than 12C, in water deeper than 150ft.Around the UK, Lophelia pertusa has been found in small colonies a few feet across or, most notably, in the form of the Darwin Mounds.Reefs are formed from thousands of 5mm polyps crowded together to form colonies.Lophelia polyps are white, pink or yellowish and live within a hard shell, which is what we know as coral.Lophelia is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. |
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