Scientists in Abu Dhabi have discovered a blue hole—one of the rarest features in the sea, with only a handful identified worldwide—and it hold the secrets of what the UAE’s seas looked like long ago.
Blue holes are often very old–the Belize blue hole, for example, was formed 150,000 years ago, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The habitat underneath is totally unique, and in an initial search, scientists found at least 10 types of coral species, forming a reef at the edges of the hole. It’s also the home to many fish communities, providing much-needed shelter for a variety of fish such as Grouper, better known as Hamour in the Arabic-speaking world, as well as Sweetlips, Emperor Fish and Jackfish.
Since it is preserved and has shelter that other areas don’t, scientists plan to study it more in order to find what other secrets it holds, according to the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
“[The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi] will conduct environmental assessments as well as scientific and topographic surveys to further understand the natural phenomenon,” the body said on Twitter.
For now, the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has done surveys and assessments to give us the basic measurements of the hole.
The blue hole, called the Al Dhafra Blue Hole, has now been fully scanned, and measures to 300 meters long and 200 meters wide, encompassing a total area of around 45,000 square meters.
The Seabed area forming the center of the Al Dhafra Blue Hole indicates a depressed, semi-circular area that’s around 5,000 square meters, and the seabed is flat with a maximum depth of 12 meters, combining silt and sand at the bottom.
Blue holes occur naturally across the world. The deepest blue hole, The Yongle, lies in the South China sea and reaches 300 meters. Other internationally famous blue holes include the Great Blue Hole in Belize, Gozo’s Blue Hole in Malta, the Blue Hole at Dabahb in Egypt and Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas.
Many blue holes across the world have led to big unexpected discoveries, but are also known to be very dangerous.
Nonetheless, that doesn’t stop diver’s from across the world coming to get a glimpse to see the reefs and fish species, and what lies at their deepest depths.
What will we find in the depths of the Al Dhafra Blue Hole? Only time will tell…