( CNN ) -- Using high-tech robotic cameras , a team of scientists is getting a rare first glimpse of marine life in the North Atlantic that could shed light on the ocean 's ecosystem and climate to as far back as 1,000 years . Images of tulip-shaped sponges , brightly colored corals , delicate pink stars and feathery organisms were among the breathtaking marine life beamed up by a submersible robot that scoured the ocean bed at a depth of some 9,800 feet [ 3,000 meters ] off the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland . The team , led by Fisheries and Oceans , Canada and including scientists from three Canadian universities and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography , is in the midst of a 20-day expedition to study 11 areas under the protection of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization . Exploring these areas is important because they contain the `` trees of the ocean , '' said Ellen Kenchington , research scientist with the Fisheries Department of Canada . She is among the lead scientists in the expedition . `` It 's been really spectacular , '' she told CNN affiliate CTV from her office at the institute as pictures from the robot streamed on her computer . `` It 's really changing our perception of the diversity that 's out there . ... We 're seeing new species in deeper waters . '' Kenchington told the Montreal Gazette that scientists potentially can look at the coral 's chemical composition and determine the temperature of the water and other data from 1,000 years ago . `` That 's how we are able to say if there is warming or a change in climate direction , '' she said . `` In order to understand the present , we need to put it into context . '' Corals have been a highly successful life form for 250 million years . They are tiny animals and polyps that exist as genetically identical individuals and can eat , defend themselves and kill plankton for food . In the process they also secrete calcium carbonate , which becomes the basis for an external skeleton on which they sit . These calcified deposits can grow to enormous sizes over a long period of time and form coral reefs . The reefs are among the world 's most productive ecosystems and can harbor more than 4,000 species of fish and many other marine life forms . Some estimates have suggested 20 percent of the world 's coral reefs are already dead and an additional 24 percent are gravely threatened . In the week they have left in the expedition , Kenchington and her team hope to collect samples and video from the depths of the ocean to gain a new understanding of these corals as well as other marine life . The underwater robot , operated by crew aboard the Canadian Coast Guard ship Hudson , is enabling the crew to go about 500 meters deeper than they have before . Kenchington told CTV the research will also help them evaluate areas that are still too deep for current fishing technologies but could be accessible in years to come . `` This will enable us to give advice in the future about what types of organisms are in these areas before they 're fished , '' she said .
The scientists discovered deep-sea marine life that could shed light on the ocean 's climate . Robotic cameras scoured the ocean bed at a depth of 9,800 feet off the Canadian coast . The research will also help evaluate if the protected areas should be further conserved .