Divers, in collaboration with UNESCO, have discovered and mapped a massive rose-shaped coral reef off the coast of Tahiti. Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean. The reef is in a pristine, highly clean state and is surprisingly healthy. Why is this surprising? This region of the Pacific has been experiencing coral bleaching, which has not been observed in this newly discovered instance.

The coral reef off Tahiti remains unnamed. It is approximately 3 km long and between 30 and 65 m wide, and lies at a depth of 31-55 m, which is not typical for tropical coral reefs. This depth could be one of the reasons why the reef has not been affected by the changing climate.