Unique underwater world discovered in Pitcairn Islands

Unique underwater world discovered in Pitcairn Islands

Expedition reveals 80 new species of fish, coral and algae in the pristine waters of British overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean

Damian Carrington
theguardian.com, Friday 27 June 2014 10.41 EDT

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Grouper fish, Variola louti (red and yellow) and Epinephelus fasciatus on the fore reef of
Oeno Atoll, Pitcairn Islands, studied by the National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition
team. Photograph: Enric Sala/National Geographic [/font]

An expedition has revealed the unique underwater treasures of the Pitcairn Islands. The discovery increases the pressure on the UK government to create the world’s largest marine protection area around the Pacific sea.

The islands are one of the most remote places on Earth, thousands of miles from any continent, and have escaped overfishing and pollution that has damaged many regions of the world’s oceans. Just 53 people live on the islands, many descendents of the sailors behind the famous mutiny on the Bounty in 1790, but it is the marine life that attracted National Geographic’s Pristine Seas expedition. Its results, including new species of fish, were published in the journal Plos One on Friday.

“The remoteness means it has been preserved as pristine as possible,” expedition leader Enric Sala told the Guardian. “As soon as you jump in the water and the bubbles clear you are surrounded by sharks.” Top-predators like sharks are virtually fished-out in many parts of the seas but the expedition found they dominated the marine ecosystems around the four Pitcairn Islands. Grey reef sharks were the most common predator, followed by whitetip reef sharks and black trevally, while the plant-eating fish were dominated by chubs, unicornfish and whitebar surgeonfish.

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Expedition divers explore the pristine waters of Pitcairn [/font]

The waters are also extremely clear. “We couldn’t believe it. The water was so clear we could see for 75 metres,” said Sala. That clarity meant coral reefs thrived far deeper than usual, down to 100 metres, a world record. Another light-dependent organism, crustose coralline algae, was seen at 382m depth. Over 80 species of fish, coral and algae were recorded at Pitcairn for the first time.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/27/pitcairn-islands-expedition-pacific-ocean