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June 7, 2024 – 16:48
A type of red hydrocoral, immobile animals similar in appearance to a plant or a rock, was found in the Strait of Magellan, in southern Chile, the southernmost and shallowest place where they have been found, scientists reported on Friday.
Populations of the red hydrocoral “Errina Antarctica” were discovered in the Kawésqar National Reserve, a protected marine area more than 3,000 km from Santiago, at the southern end of the American continent.
The discovery was made by researchers from the Rewilding Chile foundation and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, who published the discovery in the online medium Scientific Reports, of the magazine Nature, and announced it this Friday, within the framework of the Day of the Oceans, which is commemorated on June 8.
Hydrocorals form three-dimensional structures “where a lot of biodiversity lives, where other animals take shelter, reproduce and feed, and where they generate a certain stability, especially in sectors where there is a lot of current,” Ingrid Espinoza, co-author of the study and Conservation Director of Rewilding Chile.
These small organisms come together and can form structures known as Animal Marine Forests (MAF).
– Sentinels –
In the world, the distribution of corals reaches 0.1% of the seabed throughout the planet.
Due to their high ecological value, they have been classified as one of the ecosystems with the greatest biodiversity on Earth, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The study was carried out between 2021 and 2023. Divers and robots descended into the icy waters of the Strait of Magellan and photographed the presence of the red hydrocoral from 1.3 meters deep and up to 47 meters.
Hydrocorals and corals “are a very important contribution from the point of view of biodiversity, as informants, as sentinels of environmental impacts and disturbances,” explains Espinoza.
It thus refers to the threats generated by human action, such as salmon farming, which has spread to the waters of the southern Magallanes region, climate change and ocean pollution.
Despite its prominent role in the development of the seabed, this species does not have any type of protection even though it is in Chile in a vulnerable state of conservation.
“For this reason it is necessary to protect them, conserve them and look for ways to manage them so that they continue to last and have a long life,” said Espinoza.
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