MoBioMarCal
MoBioMarCal (Monitoring of Marine Biodiversity in Calabria), a scientific marine exploration project, has revealed a wealth of underwater species and diversity in Italy by using innovative technology which allows to film nature very deep in the sea.
For the first time ever, three different species of black coral, which are considered rare in Mediterranean seas, have been filmed in their natural environment. One of these, Antipathes dichotoma, has until now remained little known as it was possible to study it only through fragments preserved in museums. The filming robot used in project has also detected the presence of vast forests of thousands and thousands of colonies of another black coral, Antipathella subpinnata, which appears white in its natural environment due to a "skin" which covers its skeleton. This coral species is tree-shaped and it can reach a diameter of ten centimeters and a height of 1.5 meters. Some colonies can be thousands of years old.