Author: Stephanie Pappas
Source: NBC News
January 2, 2013

Even four times as deep as most scuba divers venture, the Great Barrier Reef  blooms. A new exploration by a remote-operated submersible has found the reef's deepest coral yet.

The common coral Acropora is living 410 feet (125 meters) below the ocean's surface, a discovery that expedition leader Pim Bongaerts of the University of Queensland called "mind-blowing." The group had previously seen the coral living in the reef at a depth of about 200 feet (60 m).

Coral reefs are made of colonies of polyps which secret a rock-like exoskeleton. The polyps have a symbiotic relationship with algae that provide them nutrients using photosynthesis. Because this process requires light, coral reefs thrive in clear, relatively shallow water.

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