For Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, the project’s chief scientist who began snorkelling on the reef as a 10-year-old in 1969, the survey offers the first chance to observe life at such a depth. “Over 90 per cent [of the Great Barrier Reef] was pretty much unexplored, which is an amazing fact,” he said. “Now with these deep diving robots and some of the technology we are developing, the potential is there for unlocking those secrets.” Picture: Underwater Earth – Lynton Burger