One of the largest reef's in the world is found at the mouth of the Amazon

A reef that is home to species of coral and sponge previously unknown to science has been found to extend to an area covering approximately 56,000 square kilometres. However, big petrochemical companies are pressing the Brazilian government for permits to drill for oil in this last bastion of pristine marine life.

The applications by Total and BP have been rejected by Brazil's Institute of Environmental and Natural Resources, but given the anti-environmental rhetoric of the new government, it is inevitable that oil companies will continue to seek consent to exploit this critically important region, where initial estimates indicate that less than 5% of species are documented.

Read more about discovery of the scale of the reef and the diversity of its marine life in an article published by Deutsche Welle here.