VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Vulnerable deep-sea corals off Virginia’s coast have become protected by the federal government.
The Daily Press reports (https://bit.ly/2gKxBu7) that many of the corals grow about 70 miles off Virginia Beach. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency recently finalized the protections. The area off Virginia is part of a larger protected zone that stretches to New York and includes 38,000 square miles of Atlantic Ocean floor.
The ancient, fragile deep-sea coral will be the largest area in the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico protected from a range of destructive fishing gear. These corals are especially vulnerable to disturbances because they grow fractions of an inch a year over hundreds of thousands of years.
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Information from: Daily Press, https://www.dailypress.com/
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