Surprising, Vibrant Reef Discovered in the Muddy Amazon

Most reefs rely on photosynthesis via a symbiotic relationship with cyanobacteria to get energy, but the water here is too cloudy. Instead many of the sponges in this reef rely on a symbiotic relationship with chemosynthetic microbes. Pretty cool!

This makes me realize how lucky we are that the ocean is as relatively transparent as it is, such that we can witness the beauty of ocean reefs. We might never find a way to really <i>see</i> how amazing this reef is. We can map it, explore it, and probably eventually render really amazing recreations of what it would look like in clear water, but we&#x27;ll never see it.

Been reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, it mentions corals at the mouth of the Amazon.

<i>Sparsely populated reef discovered in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, spanning a large area that includes the amazon delta.</i>

&quot;At least 35 sections of the continental shelf were acquired by Brazilian or transnational companies for oil exploration, up to 20 of which may soon be producing oil near the reefs.&quot;<p>Sigh.

here is the paper <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;advances.sciencemag.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;2&#x2F;4&#x2F;e1501252" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;advances.sciencemag.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;2&#x2F;4&#x2F;e1501252</a>

Sparsely populated with beautiful yellow rectangles.

Just to be clear, this is as much in the Amazon as the Gulf of Mexico is on the Mississippi<p>It is on the sea, close to its end, but not on the river itself

But OMG, the reef is already threatened.