Long presumed dead, a thriving coral reef is discovered in West Africa

Nice to read a paper that's looking for paths of persistence instead of only documenting decline. Climate stories often end with "thing are getting worse", this one also asks where ecosystems might still persist if local conditions are managed well.

The biodiversity in West Africa in general is completely underrated. I mean, Darwin solidified his trajectory in life a few short days after the Beagle anchored off of Cape Verde (a place he initially detested then fell in love with).

I'm hoping that Cape Verde's World Cup success story translates to more eye balls on stories like this (with the mere mention of the country landing it in search results). Which means more attention, money and research to West Africa's relatively fragile but diverse ecosystem.

This source appears to have more images and info: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles...

For the coral lovers. There are multiple companies working on reef preservation. They are woefully under resourced. If you can help, please do.

YAY!

> Zinzindohoué agrees: “We don’t need to wait for others to come to our country to show us what is under our sea. We are the ones who must take responsibility.

vaguely related I read a fascinating story the other day about basically garbage dumping of leftover oyster/clam shells being used to re-seed a marine ecosystem off the Florida Keys

* https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/florida-dumped-h...

reading all those easily solved frictions they encountered was sad

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That's wild

Chemical sunscreen famously kills coral.

Some dermatologists have noted that sunscreen is little used in Africa. [1]

I’m not saying that is the only explanation for the reef’s preservation, but it’s likely a significant contributing factor.

[1] https://theconversation.com/sunscreen-wouldnt-have-saved-bob...