Italy Has a Coral Reef!

by John
(UK)


Did you know that they have discovered a coral reef in Italy? It is the biggest in Europe and one of the only ones in the Mediterranean Sea.

It was discovered recently off the coast of Puglia, and it may extend for over 10 kilometers, although for now only a small fraction has been documented and nobody knows how big it could potentially be.

At a time when coral reefs elsewhere are disappearing this discovery is wonderful news. It is located near the lovely little town of Polignano, already one of the loveliest tourist seaside towns in Italy and famous for its crystal clear waters and sea caves in the cliffs rising above the sea.

Experts say that it is unlikely though that tourists will be allowed unrestricted access to the area until it is fully documented and until measures can be instituted to ensure that it is not damaged in any way.

John


Our Reply: This is indeed fabulous news - thank you for sharing it with us John. Puglia has some of the loveliest coastline in all of Italy and Polignano is a town we have featured on the website in the past - click here to read about it.

I agree with the experts though that this needs to be managed extremely carefully to avoid damage being done to the reef. So many reefs around the world have been destroyed throughout the world and so many are dying that it is imperative that this is looked after.

It is amazing though that it was only discovered now - you tend to think that every inch of the Mediterranean has been explored but that obviously is not the case. This has been there for thousands of years without anyone knowing about it. From what I hear is that it is deeper than most coral reefs so not visible from the surface. I guess that is a good thing because, if it had of been discovered decades or centuries ago it would no doubt have been destroyed.

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