Overview
- Researchers led by Gérard Zinzindohoué located and filmed the reef during a 2026 expedition, and published the visual evidence in Frontiers in Marine Science.
- The team mapped 11.5 kilometres of seabed with acoustic sonar before using underwater drones and the National Geographic Deep Sea Camera System to obtain in situ video transects.
- Footage shows a patchy mesophotic coral ecosystem deeper than 50 metres with eight types of coral and eight fish species, including golden African snappers, blackbar soldierfish, and Guinean angelfish.
- No physical samples have yet been collected, so species identities and whether the reef was dead in the 1960s cannot be confirmed, and the researchers are asking for funds for diving, sampling, genetic analysis, and wider mapping.
- The find highlights how little is known about West Africa’s continental shelf and could change regional baselines for biodiversity and fisheries if follow-up surveys reveal a larger reef system proposed by historical records.