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Dan Distel: The story really began sometime
during the late Pleistocene Era.

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It was a very different world
then. Humans would not arrive

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in North America for at least
40,000 years. Giant sloths and

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mastodons roamed the continent
and vast bald cypress forest

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flourished along what would
become Alabama's Gulf Coast.

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But things were about to
change. Climate warmed and sea

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level rose submerging the
ancient forest beneath the

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waves and covering it with a
protective layer of sand and

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peat which kept the wood in a
state of suspended animation.

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Hannah Appiah-Madson: The ancient forest remain
undisturbed for some 60,000

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years until only recently when
the violent hurricane waves

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scoured the seafloor, uncovering the prehistoric

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coastline which now lies 8
miles out to sea and 60 feet

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beneath the surface of the Gulf
of Mexico. Brian Helmuth: When exposed from

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the protective covering of
sediment, the ancient trees

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were neither petrified nor
decayed but instead were

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preserved. In many instances,
the ancient stubs are still one

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of the original positions
rooted to the seafloor. The

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wood is so fresh and intact
that shipworms and other modern

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day marine organisms that eat
wood can still feed on it and

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other organisms that normally burrow
in and settle on modern

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driftwood can still make these
ancient trees their home,

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creating one of the most
unusual marine environments

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ever discovered. Dan Distel: One of the most
remarkable aspects of the

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Alabama sunken forest is that
we know we have only glimpsed

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the tiny portion of what's out
there. Even now as we dive we

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always keep an eye out for new
species that have never been

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seen before we also know that
there's so much more to

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discover in the genetic
material of these specialist

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creatures that rely on
underwater wood for their very

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survival.