A large coral reef nearly as high as the Freedom Tower has been discovered in Australia.
The extraordinary, 1,600-foot-tall, detached structure was recently found — the first since the late 19th century — in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, reported CNN Travel.
Scientists noticed the reef off the coast of North Queensland on Oct. 20 while completing underwater mapping of northern Great Barrier Reef seafloor aboard the Falkor, the Schmidt Ocean Institute announced on Monday.
Amid the grand discovery were seven other detached reefs in the area, including the Raine Island reef, where green turtles nest.
Expedition leader Robin Beaman was stunned by the finding.
“To not only 3D map the reef in detail, but also visually see this discovery . . . is incredible,” said Beaman.
The researchers then livestreamed footage of the exploration through the use of an underwater robot.
A measurement of the reef’s length shows it’s nearly 1 mile wide off the ocean floor.
“This unexpected discovery affirms that we continue to find unknown structures and new species in our ocean,” explained Schmidt Ocean Institute co-founder Wendy Schmidt. “The state of our knowledge about what’s in the ocean has long been so limited.”
The Great Barrier Reef is Earth’s largest coral reef. It covers a staggering 133,000 square miles and is home to more than 1,500 fish species and 400 types of hard corals, according to CNN.
But recent ecological studies of the Great Barrier Reef have shown that it has lost more than half its coral populations over just the past three decades, likely because of climate change.
