Leftover fish and lobster pots may still be causing damage to Bermuda?s underwater environment by destroying cold-water corals.

Cold-water corals, which live at the cool temperatures found in higher latitudes or deeper waters of temperatures between 39.2 and 55.4 degrees Fahrenheit, were once considered to be rare. Recent research has shown they thrive all over the world, however, including in the deep waters off the Bermuda seamount.

Though there are only six species of these corals, they are much more widespread and critical to ocean life than has generally been thought. And up to half are seriously threatened by deep-sea trawling, a recent report has found.

Although such trauma is not likely to have affected the corals off Bermuda as deep-sea trawling does not take place here, leftover fish and lobster pots are posing a threat according to former Bermuda Biological Station for Research scientist Robbie Smith.

Those traps come loose and go crashing down the sea slope, he said, possibly damaging the corals. However even that danger is disappearing with Bermuda?s trapping days over.

The other danger in Bermuda?s waters is submarine fibre-optic cables, said Dr. Smith, who now lectures in marine biology at Georgia State University.

?But there are only five or ten of those, even that is probably not a problem as they are pretty narrow,? he said.

Whether or not Bermuda has an abundant cold-water coral population is ?probably a bit of a mystery?, Dr. Smith said.

While cold-water corals may not be hugely extensive in the waters off Bermuda, as they are off Eastern Canada and Norway, he said submarine dives have confirmed the corals do exist on the slopes of the Bermuda seamounts.

Just how much cold-water coral there is off Bermuda is hard to determine, he said. ?The area is vast and there have only been about 15-20 submarine dives, not all that deep.

?But they are a significant resource for the communities of animals at those depths.

?It would be an interesting thing to study in the future.?