Coral reefs, hundreds of feet tall, and thousands of years old reside off the coast of Jacksonville. It’s probably the largest area of undamaged deep-water corals in the world.

Plans are in place to protect these coral reefs from destruction from trawlers, and other destructive fishing methods.

Corals off the coast of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas include Lophelia formations, an unknown coral called Thourella bipinnata and a species previously only found in the Carribean.

coral