According to BBC News, which received exclusive footage and discoveries from the UK Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), researchers operated 24 hours a day for six weeks, recording as deep as 6,000 meters (19,700 feet). The expedition, the first beyond the shallows of Britain's Caribbean territories, also revealed never-before-seen sea creatures, including a pelican eel with a glowing pink tail, a barreleye fish with tubular eyes, and a dragonfish with a glowing rod under its chin. ' The team discovered an underwater mountain called Pickle Bank, which rises from 2,500 meters deep to about 20 meters below the sea surface, north of Little Cayman island.
Footage reveals a bright mountain side teeming with life, including golden towers of coral. They have found one of the healthiest, most diverse reefs in the region, free from stoney coral disease. Up to 90% of Britain's unique species are found around British Overseas Territories, including these islands.
This is the first step into environments people have never seen, and in some cases didn't know existed.
The Cayman Islands, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos are home to 146 species that only live in those territories. The research expedition should add even more species to the list of unique species in these territories. Scientists say the race is on to protect this 'relatively pristine' environment from climate change and pollution.
More scientific work is needed to confirm the findings of the expedition.