Finding out that coral colonies older than the Egyptian pyramids have been sitting undisturbed at the bottom of the North Atlantic, just off the coast of Newfoundland, while the entire recorded sweep of human civilization unfolded above them, is somewhat unsettling. After news of what scientists discovered during a joint expedition by Oceana Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada last year—organisms that have been growing steadily and slowly for about 4,500 years—came to mind.
During two 21-day sea voyages in July and October of 2025, the expedition explored 1,300-meter-deep submarine canyons along the Southern Newfoundland Slope. Until recently, Canada’s scientific maps of this area of the seafloor were largely blank. Scientists surveyed the area using drop-camera systems, environmental DNA equipment, and baited remote underwater video cameras. By most accounts, what they discovered was more than anyone could have reasonably predicted. colonies of coral that are more than a meter tall. Over a kilometer of muddy seabed sea pen fields. On a few scattered boulders, hundreds of redfish are schooling among soft corals.
“When the camera reached the seafloor, we were looking at coral colonies more than a metre high,” said Isabelle Jubinville, the expedition’s science lead. It’s difficult not to imagine the scene: the camera descending through icy darkness, and then this—life, ancient and dense and completely indifferent to human timelines. The majority of Canadians have never seen these habitats, and science is just now starting to record them in this level of detail.” Even though it’s just getting started, that statement has more significance than it first appears. This area wasn’t thought to be deserted. It was just an area that had not been thoroughly examined, which is a completely different and more concerning situation.
The findings are not just spectacular. Cusk, northern wolffish, and smooth skate—all of which are endangered—as well as marine mammals like pilot whales, dolphins, and a blue whale spotted close to the surface were among the species noted. Top predators and vulnerable bottom-dwellers in the same survey area indicate that the food web is still somewhat coherent. It’s possible that the Southern Newfoundland Slope’s isolation is exactly what kept it intact; the canyon’s topography, depth, and general inconvenience prevented commercial pressure long enough for these systems to endure.
Statistics Canada reports that Canada’s oceans and coastal ecosystems supplied more than $7.1 billion in ecosystem services in 2023, including carbon storage, fisheries productivity, and nature-based economic activity. This is a more comprehensive figure to consider. That number is dependent on the condition of isolated offshore habitats, such as those that are currently receiving attention off the coast of Newfoundland, in ways that are simple to ignore. Carbon-storing ecosystems that support fisheries don’t make their presence known. Until something disturbs them, they simply work.
Oceana Canada’s executive director, Josh Laughren, put it this way: “For the first time, Canada is beginning to see this ecosystem in meaningful scientific detail, and that understanding will shape how we think about our ocean for generations to come.” It’s a cautious sentence. It doesn’t make excessive claims. The fact that Canada, the nation with the world’s longest coastline, is only now producing the “most detailed scientific picture” of a canyon system this important is still astounding. The sea has been understanding. Now, the question is whether the organizations responsible for safeguarding it can advance at a speed greater than that of geology.
The expedition data will continue to be analyzed by Oceana Canada and DFO, and as the review goes on, the results will be disseminated to scientists, decision-makers, and the general public. From a distance, the discovery seems more like the start of a much longer and more complex discussion about what Canada owes a seafloor that has been quietly thriving for four and a half millennia than the conclusion.
