Dr. Telmo Morato, Portugal
Info
When we think of the protection of corals and their reefs, more than 90% of people spontaneously think of the Great Barrier Reef and the terrible coral bleaching that has occurred in recent years.
The vast majority of people are not aware of the coral gardens in the depths of our seas, e.g. on the submarine mountains with huge coral forests.
The immense variety of species in the deep and significantly colder waters is also rarely communicated in the daily media of TV or radio, only in the rarest cases one might learn about so-called "unwanted bycatch", which is landed by the highly industrialized fishing fleets with kilometer-long nets.
This fact applies not only to dolphins, whales, sharks and turtles, but also to a variety of deep-sea corals that often quickly go overboard.
A questioning, which animals are more worthy of protection, domestic dogs and cats, or corals the answer will fall clearly in favor of the first-mentioned animals, that corals are evenly also animals, know for the most part only scientists, specialized journalists and sea water aquarianists.
Our thanks to Dr. Telmo Morate from Portugal, not only for the provided photo of the horn coral Viminella flagellum, but also for the first-class scientific paper "Can We Protect Seamounts for Research? A Call for Conservation"-
This paper highlights the diversity of species, their threat from humans, and the great desire for protection.
We have provided the link to the paper below.
One of the living creatures of the deep sea gardens, for example on Condor Seamount in the deep waters around the Azores in the East Atlantic and in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean, is the unbranched, flexible, whip-shaped horn coral Viminella flagellum.
This whip coral comes in white and yellow colors and forms large coral gardens with other gorgonians, which in turn attract many fish and other marine life.
Anyone who has seen this biodiversity, in person or in the form of a documentary, will immediately subscribe to the protection of these fragile creatures.
Photography or filming of deep-sea corals can only be done with special underwater vehicles, for example with a ROV
Remotely Operated Vehicle = cable guided underwater vehicle for scientists (remote controlled diving robot).
Synonym: Ctenocella flagellum Johnson, 1863
The vast majority of people are not aware of the coral gardens in the depths of our seas, e.g. on the submarine mountains with huge coral forests.
The immense variety of species in the deep and significantly colder waters is also rarely communicated in the daily media of TV or radio, only in the rarest cases one might learn about so-called "unwanted bycatch", which is landed by the highly industrialized fishing fleets with kilometer-long nets.
This fact applies not only to dolphins, whales, sharks and turtles, but also to a variety of deep-sea corals that often quickly go overboard.
A questioning, which animals are more worthy of protection, domestic dogs and cats, or corals the answer will fall clearly in favor of the first-mentioned animals, that corals are evenly also animals, know for the most part only scientists, specialized journalists and sea water aquarianists.
Our thanks to Dr. Telmo Morate from Portugal, not only for the provided photo of the horn coral Viminella flagellum, but also for the first-class scientific paper "Can We Protect Seamounts for Research? A Call for Conservation"-
This paper highlights the diversity of species, their threat from humans, and the great desire for protection.
We have provided the link to the paper below.
One of the living creatures of the deep sea gardens, for example on Condor Seamount in the deep waters around the Azores in the East Atlantic and in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean, is the unbranched, flexible, whip-shaped horn coral Viminella flagellum.
This whip coral comes in white and yellow colors and forms large coral gardens with other gorgonians, which in turn attract many fish and other marine life.
Anyone who has seen this biodiversity, in person or in the form of a documentary, will immediately subscribe to the protection of these fragile creatures.
Photography or filming of deep-sea corals can only be done with special underwater vehicles, for example with a ROV
Remotely Operated Vehicle = cable guided underwater vehicle for scientists (remote controlled diving robot).
Synonym: Ctenocella flagellum Johnson, 1863
