Recently, scientists have discovered a massive coral reef near the Solomon Islands in Australia. Scientists believe it is the largest coral reef in the world, even visible “from space,” with a history spanning 300 years.
According to reports from National Geographic website, in October of this year, divers from National Geographic Pristine Seas first found this giant coral measuring 34 meters long and 32 meters wide. It is longer than the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale, but has remained hidden from sight for a long time.
Researchers stated that they were about to move to another area when they almost missed this giant coral. They described discovering this huge coral as equivalent to finding the tallest tree on Earth, reigniting their awe and wonder for the ocean.
The expedition team emphasized that this is the largest recorded coral reef in history, located nearly 13 meters below the surface of the sea. It consists of nearly a billion genetically identical coral polyps that work together in the colony as if they were one organism.
This organism is a type of hard coral known as Pavona clavus, named “shoulder blade coral” due to its columnar structure resembling a shoulder.
Viewed from above, the newly discovered colony appears like a massive rock or even a sunken ship. It was only when the underwater photographer dived below that he realized the enormity of this coral.
The coral is primarily brown with patches of yellow, red, pink, and blue.
Although it looks like a huge rock, coral is, in fact, an animal related to jellyfish and sea anemones. Thousands of tiny individual organisms called coral polyps gather together to form a colony, and many different colonies collectively create coral reefs.
The Solomon Islands are located in an area known as the Coral Triangle region, renowned for its abundant coral diversity.
Researchers typically estimate the age of coral based on its height. This colony, nearly five meters tall, is approximately 300 years old but could be even older.
Researchers noted that corals usually have a dome shape, like a scoop of ice cream, but this one is somewhat flat, resembling melted ice cream.