New Large Coral Reef Discovered Off Naples Containing Rare Ancient Corals (independent.co.uk) 13
Off the southwest cost of Italy, a remotely operated submarine made "a significant and rare discovery," reports the Independent — a vast white coral reef that was 80 metres tall (262 feet) and 2 metres wide (6.56 feet) "containing important species and fossil traces."
Often dubbed the "rainforests of the sea", coral reefs are of immense scientific interest due to their status as some of the planet's richest marine ecosystems, harbouring millions of species. They play a crucial role in sustaining marine life but are currently under considerable threat...
hese impressive formations are composed of deep-water hard corals, commonly referred to as "white corals" because of their lack of colour, specifically identified as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata species. The reef also contains black corals, solitary corals, sponges, and other ecologically important species, as well as fossil traces of oysters and ancient corals, the Italian Research Council said. It called them "true geological testimonies of a distant past."
Mission leader Giorgio Castellan said the finding was "exceptional for Italian seas: bioconstructions of this kind, and of such magnitude, had never been observed in the Dohrn Canyon, and are rarely seen elsewhere in our Mediterranean". The discovery will help scientists understand the ecological role of deep coral habitats and their distribution, especially in the context of conservation and restoration efforts, he added.
The undersea research was funded by the EU.
Thanks to davidone (Slashdot reader #12,252) for sharing the article.
hese impressive formations are composed of deep-water hard corals, commonly referred to as "white corals" because of their lack of colour, specifically identified as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata species. The reef also contains black corals, solitary corals, sponges, and other ecologically important species, as well as fossil traces of oysters and ancient corals, the Italian Research Council said. It called them "true geological testimonies of a distant past."
Mission leader Giorgio Castellan said the finding was "exceptional for Italian seas: bioconstructions of this kind, and of such magnitude, had never been observed in the Dohrn Canyon, and are rarely seen elsewhere in our Mediterranean". The discovery will help scientists understand the ecological role of deep coral habitats and their distribution, especially in the context of conservation and restoration efforts, he added.
The undersea research was funded by the EU.
Thanks to davidone (Slashdot reader #12,252) for sharing the article.
Good news (Score:2)
This is good news. It is not political news or a political talking point news also.
Re: (Score:1)
You're spoiling the Leftists' fun, stop it.
OTOH, it is good news, so don't let them spoil it...
"Discovered nipples"? (Score:1)
...to horny jail me...
Correction (Score:2, Informative)
'The undersea research was funded by the EU.'
no - let's say:
'The undersea research was funded by the EU taxpayers'.
Sounds like a great discovery, but let's not pretend that it was funded from a magic money tree.
Re: (Score:3)
It's legalese. Just a grant acknowledgement. They have to acknowledge the funding entity in every publication. It could have been that they had gotten the grant from, say, "the City of Naples", or "The region of Campania" or some non-profit foundation there. It happened to be an EU grant.
Nobody's writing "funded by taxpayer!!" in their research papers, because it serves no purpose. They acknowledge a specific project because that's a requirement, and it allows them to later claim the paper as achievement of
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You say the money was not all from taxpayers, because some of it was from investments ("not just sitting around in a vault"). But was it not 100% taxpayer money that was invested? And if the taxpayer still had that cash, are you saying it would be sitting under their mattress? Or is it more likely that the taxpayer would have invested in, and the taxpayer would be reaping the benefit of investing it?
Of course it is taxpayer money.
All of it
It always was, until the Government took itl
At the point of a gun.
(Ho
Re: (Score:2)
It's kinda assumed unless your IQ is 12, but shows how the taxpayer money is spent.
Re: (Score:2)
Here the project that funded this study: Life Dream -- Deep REef restoration And litter removal in the Mediterranean sea. 1/09/2022 – 31/08/2027, Total budget: € 5.308.472 ( https://www.ismar.cnr.it/web-c... [ismar.cnr.it] ) https://www.life-dream.eu/proj... [life-dream.eu]