Sydney: On Thursday, scientists announced a significant find “pulsing with life and color”: they have discovered the largest coral in the world, close to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.
Because of the size of the coral, scientists first believed they had discovered a massive shipwreck while exploring the pristine seas of the Solomon archipelago.
Marine researcher Enric Sala stated, “We find a massive coral made of nearly one billion little polyps, pulsing with life and color, just when we think there is nothing left to discover on planet earth.”
The researchers said that the independent structure, which was made up of a “complex network” of microscopic coral polyps, had been expanding for about 300 years. They clarified that it was different from a coral reef, which is composed of numerous separate coral colonies. The researchers claimed that the “mega coral,” which measured 34 meters in width (111 feet) and 32 meters in length (104 feet), was three times larger than the previous record holder, a coral known as “Big Momma” in American Samoa.
Lead scientist Molly Timmers remarked, “This newly discovered coral is as if the ice cream started to melt, spreading forever along the seafloor, whereas Big Momma looked like a huge scoop of ice cream that plopped down on the reef.”
It was believed to be “so colossal” that it could “be seen from space” and was longer than a blue whale. The coral was found in the Three Sisters region, which is located near the southeast tip of the Solomon Islands.
A National Geographic crew on a research mission in the area spotted it.
