From my perspective that’s just a rebranding. I dived there years ago and already there it was protected for much longer.

Created in 1996, this [Mar de Las Calmas Marine Reserve] protects the richest marine area of El Hierro, which has a highly diverse and well-preserved underwater fauna and flora.

https://www.hellocanaryislands.com/nature-spaces/el-hierro/mar-de-las-calmas-marine-reserve/

That’s interesting. Last year I visited an exhibition in Windischeschenbach / Germany where they drilled a hole that is more than 9000 meters deep to analyze the layers of the soil. There they said that they also penetrated several water basins while drilling that were completely isolated for billions of years. Still they didn’t find a single biologist willing to analyze these water samples. The reason that was given to me was that the liquid may contain completely unknown and highly dangerous bacteria, viruses etc.

Permafrost to me is quite similar to these underground water basins in terms of isolation over a long period of time. So that’s what I based my original claim on.

But I’m neither an expert in geology nor biology, so I can’t judge the potential risk.

Isn’t that non-adaptation a double-edged sword? Sure, the viruses aren’t adapted to humans. But likewise humans aren’t adapted to these forms of viruses. So while the chances of infection may be lower, the immune system won’t have any adequate answer to it.