The fight to grant permanent federal protection to three areas off New England's coast continues, despite a setback for conservationists at one of the spots.
Two of the zones are located about 150 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. They're called the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts, and host underwater rifts deeper than the Grand Canyon, and submerged mountains higher than Mount Washington.
"This is an area of high discovery potential as well," said Peter Auster, a research scientist at Mystic Aquarium. "There was a single research cruise on NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer in 2013 that added 24 coral species and three species of deep sea fish to the known regional fauna."
