Shrinking sea meadows store more carbon than forests. Scientists are racing to track what’s left

FILE PHOTO: Marine biologist Tim Lewis retrieves a Niskin Water Sampling Bottle at the Saya de Malha Bank within the Mascarene plateau, Mauritius March 9, 2021. REUTERS/Christophe Van Der Perre

SAYA DE MALHA BANK, Indian Ocean (Reuters) - Hundreds of miles from the nearest shore, ribbon-like fronds flutter in the ocean currents sweeping across an underwater mountain plateau the size of Switzerland.

A remote-powered camera glides through the sunlit, turquoise waters of this corner of the western Indian Ocean, capturing rare footage of what scientists believe is the world’s largest seagrass meadow.