TRAWLING has destroyed large parts of a unique coral formation at the bottom
of the North Atlantic, according to British marine biologists. Unless urgent
action is taken to protect the formation, known as the Darwin Mounds, all its
coral may be smashed within a few years.
The Darwin Mounds were discovered 100 kilometres northwest of the Scottish
mainland in 1998. Spread over 60 square kilometres under 1000 metres of water,
they comprise over 100 seabed hummocks up to six metres high. The mounds are
home to large cauliflower-shaped thickets ofLophelia pertusa, a
cold-water coral that provides a habitat for at…
