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Article: Researchers gain insight into Puerto Rican coral reefs with high-tech mapping
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- February 29, 2008
- Author:
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Whirring over a sun-streaked patch of tropical sea floor, a submersible equipped with cameras is helping scientists map the struggling coral reefs off this U.S. Caribbean territory, a step toward preserving them.
The small machine, tethered to a 187-foot (57-meter) survey ship, was remotely steered over coral hills, sending a fisheye view back to scientists who hope the images will help them learn how to restore the weakened reefs.
The video and multi-beam sonar imagery taken this week provided the most exact charts ever of coral contours and sea floors in the area.
"It's neat getting the images because some of these spots are where Captain Cook's ships were once ...