Australian scientists have discovered a separate coral reef on the country’s Great Barrier Reef, which is even taller than New York’s Empire State Building and Paris’s Eiffel Tower.
The Schmidt Ocean Institute called the study the first such discovery in 100 years, according to Reuters.
The institute, founded by former Google chief executive officer (CEO) Eric Schmidt and his wife, said the “blade-like reef” is 500 meters long and 1.5 kilometers wide.
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It is 40 meters below sea level and about 6 kilometers from the shores of the Great Barrier Reef.
A team of scientists from James Cook University, led by Dr. Robin Beymann, was mapping the Great Barrier Reef on the Institute’s research vessel Falkore when they found the coral reef on October 20.
“We are surprised and happy with what we have received,” said Robin Beymann.
He said it was the first isolated rock of this size to be discovered in more than 120 years and was growing in a “strange situation” with a healthy ecosystem.
The discovery came after a study earlier this month found that the Great Barrier Reef had dug more than half of its rocks in the last three decades.
The underwater robot, known as the Hundred Bastians, filmed their new rock discovery and collected marine specimens along the way, which will be housed in the Archives and the Queensland Museum and the Queensland Museum.
Using the underground robot, known as Sebastian, the scientists filmed the discovery of new rocks and the collection of marine specimens that will be preserved at the Queensland Museum and The Museum of Tropical Queensland.
Dr. Robin Beymann said that not only did the 3D map detail the rock, but the discovery made by Sebastian was astonishing.
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He said that although the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef was affected by bleaching in 2016, there was no evidence of any damage in this separate coral reef.
Bleaching occurs when the water is so hot that the coral reef itself is forced out of the living algae and the sea rocks turn white.
The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of 2,300 km (1429 miles) off the northeast coast of Australia, about half the size of Texas.
It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981 for having the most amazing and extensive coral reef system on Earth