First images of Amazon reef released

Researchers from several Brazilian universities and non-governmental organization Greenpeace released the first pictures of an Amazon coral reef on Monday (Jan. 30). The pictures were taken from a submarine launched from Greenpeace ship Esperanza on January 28. On board were Fabiano Thompson from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)—who lead the group of scientists who discovered the coral reef—and Kenneth Jozeph Lowick, from Greenpeace Belgium.

The reef, filled with corals, sponges, and rhodoliths, is located at the mouth of the Amazon river, stretching along over 9,500 square kilometers—an area 20% larger than São Paulo metropolitan area.

The researchers, who announced the discovery of the Amazon reef in April 2016, are raising concerns that the newly found reef system is at risk with the oil drilling in the region, in a campaign  called “Defend the Amazon Reef”.

“This reef forms a new and unique biome in the world—it is located in a region where reefs like these were not thought to exist. And this newly-discovered biome is already threatened,” said the Greenpeace's Thiago Almeida.

He noted drilling and prospecting activities could begin as early as this year in the region, and “all drilling activity carries a risk of oil spills.” In the event of a spill, he said, not only would corals be threatened, but the region's traditional communities, including fishers, harvesters, quilombolas (descendants of maroon communities) and indigenous people, who rely on the Brazilian coast for their livelihoods, would be seriously impacted.

Translated by Mayra Borges