Discover coral reefs that are as bright as a rainbow

Scientists discovered colorful coral fragments capable of rainbow-like natural glow beneath the Red Sea.

Coral reefs are as bright as rainbows

Scientists at the University of Southampton, England and Tel Aviv University and the Institute of Marine Science (IUI), Israel study coral reefs at a depth of 50 meters in the Red Sea (between Africa and Asia). They found many corals shining brightly with fluorescent colors, from green to yellow to red. The research results are published in PLoS ONE magazine.

"Only the blue sunlight passes through the depths greater than 50 meters, so we didn't expect to see the red light around. We were completely surprised to see some corals emitting. Light green or brilliant orange ", Science Daily quoted Gal Eyal, a graduate student at IUI, said.

"Fluorescent pigments are proteins. When they are illuminated by blue or ultraviolet light, they will reflect light with longer wavelengths, such as red or green , " said Jorg Wiedenmann. , Head of Reef Coral Laboratory at the University of Southampton, said.

The optical properties of luminous corals are likely to become important tools for biomedical imaging applications. Their fluorescent light highlights living cells or cell structures under a microscope, helping to monitor cancer cells or refining drugs.

"The mesophotic coral reefs are less studied, because they exceed the depth limit of standard Scuba diving techniques. Advances in diving techniques allow us to explore the coral community in deeper waters." , Gal Eyal said.