Caribbean divers discover paradise lost (part two)

PUERTO RICO - An underwater paradise filled with exotic fish, marine plants and coral reefs has been discovered by professional scuba divers exploring the shallow waters of a sea mountain in the Caribbean.

More than 200 fish species - many of them new to science - have been documented during a two-week exploration of the Saba Bank Atoll, 260km south-east of Puerto Rico in the Dutch Windward Islands.

The diversity of the marine life has astonished the scientists, who found dozens of new marine animals, including two types of goby fish, and vast seaweed beds littered with plants that have yet to be named.

"We discovered a new species every day we were there," said Michael Smith, director of the Caribbean Biodiversity Initiative of Conservation International. "It's a big surprise. That rate of discovery is unusual for the Caribbean, at least in shallow water."

Before the expedition, only 35 species of fish had been documented in the region, but that has now increased six-fold. The scientists have itemised 12 new species of seaweed, but believe this is a conservative estimate.

Saba Bank is a classic coral atoll consisting of a submerged mountain which is crowned at the summit with a ring of actively growing coral reefs.

It is the largest atoll in the Atlantic Ocean basin and the third largest atoll on Earth. It probably began to form about half a million years ago following a volcanic eruption.

The flat-topped seamount rises 1800m above the seafloor but does not actually break the sea surface.

The report comes a week after explorers found an untouched rainforest "paradise" in Foja Mountains, New Guinea.

- INDEPENDENT