Spectacular images reveal unique sea creatures and corals off Caribbean islands
Spectacular images reveal unique sea creatures and corals off Caribbean islands
For years, the deep waters surrounding Britain’s Caribbean territories have remained enigmatic. However, a recent expedition has uncovered a hidden world beneath the surface, revealing an underwater mountain range, a massive “blue hole,” and coral reefs untouched by climate change impacts. Scientists from the UK Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) shared their findings exclusively with BBC News, highlighting the significance of these discoveries.
Mapping the unknown
Operating continuously for six weeks, the team employed high-pressure cameras and specialized instruments to explore depths exceeding 6,000 meters (19,700 feet). Their journey through the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, and Turks and Caicos relied on decades-old maps, which often lacked accuracy and omitted entire regions. The challenge of navigating uncharted terrain without modern technology added to the complexity of their mission.
“This is the first step into environments people have never seen, and in some cases didn’t know existed,” said Prof James Bell, who led the expedition aboard the British research vessel RSS James Cook. “Just yesterday we found a kind of swimming sea cucumber, and we still don’t know what it is,” he added, emphasizing the astounding diversity encountered.
Life in the deep
Among the highlights were creatures like the pelican eel, whose pink tail glows to attract prey, and the barreleye fish, with upward-facing tubular eyes that detect silhouettes. The team also documented a dragonfish equipped with a bioluminescent rod beneath its chin. These findings suggest the region may harbor more unique species than previously thought.
The expedition’s focus on an uncharted underwater mountain, Pickle Bank, revealed unexpected challenges. “We’re not sure how close to it we are,” Bell explained. “It’s quite difficult to map without risking grounding.” The mountain, located north of Little Cayman, was found to rise from 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) deep to just 20 meters (65 feet) below the surface. Its slopes, adorned with vibrant blue, yellow, and orange coral formations, teemed with marine life, including gorgonian whip coral and jelly-like sea sponges.
Resilient ecosystems
The researchers identified one of the healthiest coral reefs in the region, untouched by the stony coral disease affecting much of the Caribbean. Its isolation, thanks to the mountain’s steep walls, may shield it from environmental stressors. Deep-water reefs, known as mesophotic zones, are typically less vulnerable to warming ocean temperatures, which have devastated 80% of global corals since 2023.
Using advanced deep-sea cameras and echo-sounders, the team mapped nearly 25,000 square kilometers (9,700 square miles) of seabed and captured 20,000 images, including glowing lantern fish and other otherworldly marine life. “We know the surface of Mars or the Moon better than we know our own planet,” Bell noted. “You send a satellite, and it’s mapped in weeks. For the ocean, we have to do it piece by piece.”
Unveiling new wonders
In Turks and Caicos, the team discovered a previously unknown mountain ridge, 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) tall, stretching 70 kilometers (45 miles) across the seabed west of Gentry Bank. They also identified a colossal blue hole, 75 kilometers (45 miles) south of Grand Turk, formed by a collapsed cave. Describing the feature, Bell likened it to “taking an ice cream scoop out of the sea-floor,” noting its crater-like shape, 300 meters (980 feet) wide and plunging 550 meters (1,800 feet) below the surface. This could mark the deepest blue hole in the Caribbean, rivaling Belize’s famed Great Blue Hole.
