A cold-water coral that thrives in deep, dark water has been found growing off the shore of Greenland as a reef for the first time, scientists report.

Greenland's First Coral Reef Found

By Becky Oskin, Staff Writer   |   February 05, 2014 10:04am ET

A piece of the first cold-water coral reef discovered offshore of Greenland. Credit: Technical University of Denmark View full size image

A Canadian research ship sampling water near southwest Greenland's Cape Desolation discovered the Greenland coral reef in 2012, when its equipment came back to the surface with pieces of coral attached.
"At first, the researchers were swearing and cursing at the smashed equipment, and were just about to throw the pieces of coral back into the sea, when luckily, they realized what they were holding," Helle Jørgensbye, a doctoral student at the Technical University of Denmark who is studying the reef, said in a statement.

Cold-water corals have been found off of Greenland's west coast before, but never the stone coral Lophelia pertusa, and never as a reef, according to a report by the researchers published in the journal ICES Insight.
Scientists snapped pictures of the reef and collected coral samples on a return trip, also in 2012, led by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia.

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Bit chilly for snorkelling! Living coral reef is discovered off the coast of GREENLAND

• 'Cold-water' coral discovered in Cape Desolation, south of Ivittuut

• It is the first time an entire reef has been discovered in Greenland

• It was discovered by Canadian researchers purely by accident

By Sam Webb
PUBLISHED: 12:06 EST, 29 January 2014 | UPDATED: 04:35 EST, 30 January 2014

Coral reefs are often associated with tropical climates and enjoyed by snorkellers for their multi-coloured beauty.
But it would take a brave holidaymaker indeed to brave the one recently discovered by Canadian researchers - it's in the freezing waters of southern Greenland.
The reef is comprised of what are called living cold-water corals and while there are several species of coral in Greenland, this is the first time that an actual reef has been found.

Vibrant: Cold water coral from the newly discovered reef off the coast of Greenland

The beauty of the depths: This picture of the reef almost cost the research team their camera

The newly discovered living reef is located off Cape Desolation, south of Ivittuut, and lies at a depth of 984 yards (900 metres) in a spot with very strong currents, making it difficult to reach.
This also means that so far little is known about the reef itself and what lives on it.

 The reef was discovered by accident when a Canadian research vessel needed to take some water samples. When the ship sent the measuring instruments down to the depths, they came back up completely smashed.

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