12 Apostles Victoria: Five new never-before-seen Apostles found underwater off Great Ocean Road

The Twelve Apostles are one of Victoria's most prized natural attractions, with many locals and tourists alike taking the drive down the Great Ocean Road to catch a glimpse of the limestone stacks. However, a new discovery by a PHD student shows there are five more never-before-seen collections hidden 50 metres underwater.

Dubbed the 'drowned Apostles', the limestone stacks are believed to be 60,000 years old and were first discovered by University of Melbourne student Rhiannon Bezore. Bezore was initially analysing new sonar data as part of a project to survey potential reef habitats for sea life, such as crayfish and abalone, but she found something else located in front of a submerged ancient coastal cliff, approximately 6km away of the Twelve Apostles.

“I was pretty surprised to see them,” Bezore said in a Melbourne Uni release. “We had to check with each other on what we were seeing because no one has seen stacks submerged at this sea level before.”

Bezore's discovery is the first time such stacks have been found preserved below the sea. Measuring an average height of almost five metres -- compared with the visible Twelve Apostles stacks which average 45 metres -- researchers are surprised that the 'drowned Apostles' have not already completely eroded by now.

Associate Professor Kennedy, Bezore's supervisor, said the most likely explanation was that the stacks were "swamped into place" at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels rose so fast geologically (and not like a tsunami) as the ice melted. However,

“If you had stood on that ancient cliff line they would have looked similar to the current Apostles, but when sea levels rose the sea went straight across the top of them,” Associate Professor Kennedy said.

The research has been published in the US-based Journal of Coastal Research. Bezore has also presented the paper at the International Coastal Symposium at Coogee in Sydney.