Ecuador’s Environment Minister, Jose Davalos, announced on Twitter that an unexplored coral reef has been discovered near the Galápagos Islands. The two-kilometre-long reef, situated at a depth of 400m on the summit of a volcanic underwater mountain, is home to a variety of marine life, including deep-sea fish, sharks, and rays. The discovery came as a surprise to the exploration team, who believed that only one reef had survived the El Niño weather cycle in 1982 and 1983. The pristine condition of the reef, with more than 50% of living coral, is of global significance, according to marine biologist Michelle Taylor. Stuart Banks, a senior marine researcher, said the decades-old coral formation is “very important at a global level”, given the degradation of many deepwater ecosystems.