Dan Distel: The story really began sometime during the late Pleistocene Era.
It was a very different world then. Humans would not arrive
in North America for at least 40,000 years. Giant sloths and
mastodons roamed the continent and vast bald cypress forest
flourished along what would become Alabama's Gulf Coast.
But things were about to change. Climate warmed and sea
level rose submerging the ancient forest beneath the
waves and covering it with a protective layer of sand and
peat which kept the wood in a state of suspended animation.
Hannah Appiah-Madson: The ancient forest remain undisturbed for some 60,000
years until only recently when the violent hurricane waves
scoured the seafloor, uncovering the prehistoric
coastline which now lies 8 miles out to sea and 60 feet
beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. Brian Helmuth: When exposed from
the protective covering of sediment, the ancient trees
were neither petrified nor decayed but instead were
preserved. In many instances, the ancient stubs are still one
of the original positions rooted to the seafloor. The
wood is so fresh and intact that shipworms and other modern
day marine organisms that eat wood can still feed on it and
other organisms that normally burrow in and settle on modern
driftwood can still make these ancient trees their home,
creating one of the most unusual marine environments
ever discovered. Dan Distel: One of the most remarkable aspects of the
Alabama sunken forest is that we know we have only glimpsed
the tiny portion of what's out there. Even now as we dive we
always keep an eye out for new species that have never been
seen before we also know that there's so much more to
discover in the genetic material of these specialist
creatures that rely on underwater wood for their very
survival.