Huge Canary Islands discovery as mystery of real-life Atlantis could finally be solved

A huge Canary Islands discovery could finally solve the mystery of a real-life Atlantis.

Atlantis was described by ancient Greek philosopher Plato 2,300 years ago - the island’s people anger the gods who sink the country beneath the sea.

But now researchers claim to have found Plato’s source of inspiration - a series of underwater islands near the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa.

The islands would have been close to the Canaries but sunk millions of years ago, according to the experts. This raises the question of how the philosopher would have known about them.

They have been named ‘Los Atlantes’, in reference to Plato’s myth which was designed to urge against national hubris.

Luis Somoza, a marine geologist at the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME-CSIC), told Live Science: “This could be the origin of the Atlantis legend.”

Los Atlantes existed as islands during the Eocene time period, between 56 and 34 million years ago. 

“They were islands in the past and they have sunk, they are still sinking, as the legend of Atlantis tells,” said Somoza. “Some of us have been able to verify that they still maintain their beaches.”

As part of an exploration project that kicked off on June 27 and ended last week, the team deployed an unmanned submarine to investigate the seabed between 330 and 8,200 feet deep.

Today, Los Atlantes are now covered with "vast life", from gardens of corals and sponges to areas covered with "bacterial mats" – multi-layered sheets of microorganisms, researchers say. 

The islands are located on a massive "seamount" – an underwater mountain with steep sides rising from the seafloor that contains three inactive volcanoes. 

The islands may have sunk when the volcanoes stopped erupting and lava solidified and became denser.