In the deep blue of the South Pacific, scientists have found something extraordinary: an ancient coral garden on an uncharted seamount, with corals over 100 years old and nearly two metres tall. Now this hidden world could finally receive the permanent protection it deserves.
A scientific expedition led by Greenpeace Aotearoa to the Lord Howe Rise — a vast underwater plateau between Australia and New Zealand — has documented approximately **350 types of corals, sponges, and other marine life** across just a small section of the seamount. Many of these organisms are a century old or more, living ecosystems that predate both World Wars.
"This discovery is scientifically proving what we suspected: this is a vulnerable marine ecosystem that urgently needs protection," said Greenpeace Aotearoa.
The expedition recorded a stunning variety of deep-sea life, including bamboo corals, golden corals, precious corals, stony corals, hydrocorals, and black corals — some forming colonies nearly two metres in height. A coral colony this size represents a century of patient growth in cold, dark ocean depths.
That scientific finding carries legal weight. Under international rules, the confirmed presence of these organisms means the Lord Howe Rise must now be classified as a **Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME)** — a designation that triggers protection obligations for member states of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO).
The timing is critical. Bottom trawling — dragging weighted nets across the seafloor — was temporarily paused at the Lord Howe Rise in 2024 after a trawler accidentally caught a substantial quantity of coral. But the pause is not permanent, and there are proposals to increase bycatch limits in 2026. Greenpeace has now presented its expedition findings directly to SPRFMO, making the scientific case that a single trawl pass can destroy in minutes what took a century to grow.
The discovery also arrives as the Global Ocean Treaty — which entered into force earlier in 2026 after 86 nations ratified it — creates the first legal framework for protecting the high seas. The Lord Howe Rise is now being considered as one of the inaugural ocean sanctuaries under the treaty.
Deep-sea coral ecosystems provide habitat for hundreds of species, support fish populations, and play a role in global carbon cycling that scientists are still working to understand. A coral colony that began growing before the invention of the aeroplane — still alive, still growing, still holding together an ecosystem in the dark — is worth protecting.
Finding it was remarkable. Protecting it would be something else entirely. 🌊
*Sources: Greenpeace Aotearoa · Oceanographic Magazine · South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation*
