CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Researchers at Smithsonian Institution, Washington recently discovered five new species of black corals living as deep as 2, 500 feet (760 metres) below the surface in the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea off the coast of Australia.

Detailed explanation-2: -The reef is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea. The reef, which is large enough to be visible from space, is made up of nearly 3, 000 individual reefs.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Great Barrier Reef is home to about 360 species of hard coral, including bottlebrush coral, bubble coral, brain coral, mushroom coral, staghorn coral, tabletop coral, and needle coral.

Detailed explanation-4: -Though the Great Barrier Reef’s existence had been recognised by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Island people for thousands of years, it’s Captain James Cook who has been credited with the discovery of the Great Barrier Reef. The British explorer discovered the Reef when his ship ran aground on it in 1770.