Coral bleaching ‘lifeboat’ could be just beneath the surface

A report commissioned by the United Nations offers a glimmer of hope to those managing the impact of bleaching on the world’s coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef. The 35 authors of the United Nations Environmental Programme in-depth report say as the world’s surface reefs are being threatened, part of the ecosystem may survive in these barely known deeper environments, known as mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs).