The Twelve Apostles have been keeping a secret - 60-thousand years old.
Hidden 50 metres beneath the sea's surface, six kilometres off-shore from the Great Ocean Road, are the drowned apostles.
Melbourne University P-h-D student Rhiannon Bezore discovered the additional 'Apostles' while performing a preliminary scan of some sonar data, collected by another student.
They found marine monoliths - similar in size and shape to the Twelve Apostles - on the seabed.
Sea-stacks are usually seen along coastlines, and usually only survive a few hundred years because they are constantly eroding.
In 1990 the so-called "London Bridge" formation collapsed.
Then in 2005, another of the 'Apostles' was lost.
Currently, eight are still standing.
Melbourne University geomorphologist, Associate Professor David Kennedy, says the drowned 'Apostles' were preserved
.
The finding is regarded as a world first.
Seastacks that deep, and that old, have apparently not been found before.
The drowned 'Apostles' are located a short distance away from the modern 'Apostles', along the Victorian coastline.
A dive following the discovery found they were full of marine life - forming reefs and creating a habitat for fish, oysters and abalone.
Associate Professor David Kennedy says the availability of new technology means this discovery could just be the beginning of many more.
