14 DAY TRIAL // Scuba divers exploring the Gulf of Mexico have recently come across an ancient forest which appears to have spent the past 50,000 years buried under ocean sediments.
The forest, named the Bald Cypress Forest by researchers, is located close to Alabama's coastline, at a depth of about 60 feet (18.4 meters).
It is made up of stumps and logs which cover an area of roughly 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers), The Inquisitr reports.
Interestingly enough, it appears that researchers have Hurricane Katrina to thank for their discovering this ancient forest.
Thus, this powerful storm is said to have dug out the tree stumps in 2005, when it hit the United States.
Shortly after this happened, a local fisherman noticed that fish and other marine wildlife started gathering in the area, and was quick to assume that something was happening below the surface.
The fisherman shared his beliefs with the owner of a dive shop, and the latter passed on the news to Ben Raines, the executive director of Weeks Bay Foundation, a nonprofit organization that explores estuaries.
Together with some of his colleagues, Ben Raines set out to explore this part of the Gulf of Mexico. They were the ones who found the ancient underwater forest.
“Swimming around amidst these stumps and logs, you just feel like you’re in this fairy world,” Ben Raines reportedly told the press when asked to comment on his and his colleagues' discovery.
The professional diver explains that, because they have spent thousands of years in an oxygen-free environment, the remains of these ancient trees are incredibly well preserved.
He maintains that, when cut, they let out a smell similar to that of fresh Cypress sap.
Researchers wishing to explore this forest are now applying for grants, and hope to get the funds they need before the forest is destroyed by the marine life that has come to populate it.