180 football fields of coral reef lay hidden off Uruguay. Over 30 suspected new species, plus chemosynthetic tubeworms

An 'unexpected' coral reef off Uruguay

180 football fields. 300 metres deep.

The coral reefs found off Uruguay defied every prediction. They were supposed to be smaller, more fragile. Instead, the team found a 1.3 km² reef complex with mounds reaching 40 metres tall.

This was Schmidt Ocean Institute's 100th expedition. An international team spent 29 days surveying depths from 198 to 2,415 metres.

Cold-water corals building a 'living mountain'

The reef-builder is Desmophyllum pertusum, a slow-growing cold-water stony coral recently designated as vulnerable to extinction.

Yet here it was thriving at this scale. Temperate and subtropical species were coexisting side by side. The Brazil Current, bringing warmer water south, seems to sustain this diversity.

Over 30 suspected new species

The species list reads like a deep-sea highlight reel. Dumbo octopus, tripod fish, bellowsfish. The usual deep-sea cast, all present.

On top of that, over 30 organisms could be new to science. A bamboo coral found at 2,415 metres is one of them.

Chemosynthetic tubeworms at a methane seep

Right next to the coral reef, a methane cold seep was discovered.

Living there were chemosynthetic tubeworms (Lamellibrachia victori). Organisms surviving without sunlight, powered by methane and hydrogen sulphide. It is rare to find coral reefs and chemosynthetic ecosystems this close together.

What the researchers say

We always expect to find the unexpected, but the diversity and complexity of what we found exceeded all our expectations.

— Dr. Alvar Carranza (Chief Scientist)

The reefs they discovered are incredible.

— Dr. Erik Cordes (Temple University)

For Schmidt Ocean's Argentina expedition, see 'Vatican-Sized Coral Reef and Ghost Jellyfish.'

A note from the author: A 1.3 km² coral reef, entirely undiscovered. That alone is staggering.

180 football fields of coral, quietly thriving at 300 metres off Uruguay.

The exploration of the sunken destroyer ROU Uruguay caught my attention too. Could a warship sunk in 1995 now be home to deep-sea life?