Greenpeace reports arctic coral bounty

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 28 (UPI) -- Scientists with environmental group Greenpeace said they found deep-sea coral at a planned oil-drilling site off Alaska.

Greenpeace said their exploration of the lease site in the Chukchi Sea this summer turned up large concentrations of a coral known as sea raspberry, which the Washington Post said could complicate plans by Royal Dutch Shell to begin drilling in the near future.

"Deep-sea corals are cold-water, slow-growing and long-lived animals and highly vulnerable to disturbance," said John Hocevar, a marine biologist for Greenpeace.

The Post said the Greenpeace survey, which was conducted by a mini-submarine that dove about 150 feet down, contrasted an earlier Shell study that concluded corals occupied less than 4 percent of the habitat.

Shell is awaiting final drilling permits for the Arctic Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the Post said.