An ancient coral reef teeming with life found in the Galapagos

"We don’t get good news stories very often," said one of the scientists who spoke with Global News to describe the incredible coral reef discovery.

Diving to the ocean floor in a small submarine off the Galapagos Islands, coral reef, biologist Dr. Michelle Taylor and a colleague lived a moment over the weekend she’ll likely never forget.

“It was just the two of us and a pilot,” Taylor says. “I was just losing it. We were so excited.”

Taylor was part of a team that discovered a pristine, kilometres-long, ancient coral reef teeming with life in the Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve Sunday.

Global News spoke to Taylor and Dr. Stuart Banks onboard the research vessel Atlantis. They’re part of team mapping and taking samples from the ocean floor when they made the unexpected find.

“There’s a whole new hidden system,” Banks says. “It’s an important habitat, and it’s been there for a very long time.”

The discovery was made while in the deep-sea research submarine “Alvin.” It’s operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

It’s a site that crews have been studying for more than 20 years, but the submarine and cutting-edge technology helped them go deeper.

The coral reef was found at between 500- and 700-metres depth. While corals can be found as deep at 8,000 metres, most are closer to the surface – and suffering.