Lophelia reef (also known by its

Wakashan Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. As is typical of the Nor ...

name q̓áuc̓íwísuxv) is a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

that lies some 200 m underwater in

Finlayson Channel Finlayson Channel is a channel of the British Columbia Coast, Canada. It is a northern extension of Milbanke Sound. To its west are Swindle and Sarah Islands, to its east Roderick, Susan and Dowager Islands. It was first charted in 1793 by ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is Canada's only known living coral reef, and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

's northernmost known coral reef. It was discovered in the early 2020s after two local

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

, the Kitasoo Xai'xais and the

Heiltsuk The Heiltsuk , sometimes historically referred to as ''Bella Bella'', or ''Híɫzaqv'' are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Central Coast Regional District, Central Coast region in British Columbia, ...

, who "knew something was there," guided deepsea

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

Cherisse Du Preez to the waters in which the coral ecosystem lives. Canada's Fisheries Department has closed the area over the coral reef to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact and mid-water trawl fisheries. This is, according to the Department, based on a significant scientific discovery at the small yet globally unique reef, which is highly susceptible to damage from fishing gear. The reef's site is now being assessed for the possibility of establishing there a

Parks Canada Parks Canada ()Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 37 National Parks, three National Marine Co ...

National Marine Conservation Area.

References

{{Asbox , image = , subject = , qualifier = about a coral reef , category = Biology stubs , name = Asbox Coral reefs Central Coast of British Columbia