The Red Sea is significantly warmer and more saline, even in its
deepest waters, than other marine basins. These conditions offer
opportunities for unique ecosystems to develop, such as deep warm-water
coral frameworks. However, little is known about these deep coral
ecosystems and their distribution in the Red Sea.
KAUST researchers, together with scientists in the U.S. and Italy,
used a computer modeling approach combined with data gathered on ocean
voyages to determine the likely distribution of deep warm-water coral
frameworks in the northern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.