Scientists announced Thursday that they had discovered the largest coral in the world near the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. This coral is three times the size of the previous record holder.
“Just when we thought there was nothing more to discover on planet Earth, we found a massive coral made up of nearly a billion small polyps, brimming with life and color,” said Enric Sala , marine ecologist.
The coral was discovered in an area known as the “Three Sisters” in the southeast of the Solomon Islands, at a depth starting around thirteen meters, by a team from National Geographic who was participating in a scientific expedition in the region.
According to the research team, this self-sustaining structure developed over around 300 years, from a “complex network” of tiny coral polyps. It is distinct from a coral reef, made up of many distinct colonies, she explained. Here, these billion genetically identical coral polyps work together as if they were a single organism: they come together to form a colony and many different colonies make up a reef.
>> Read also: Healthy giant coral reef discovered off Tahiti
Bigger than a blue whale
Measuring 34 meters wide by 32 long, this individual looks like a huge block of rock surrounded by sand, but it is very much alive and “is related to jellyfish and sea anemones”, recalls National Geographic. This new coral from the Solomons is three times larger than the previous record holder located in American Samoa and nicknamed “Big Momma“.
“While Big Momma looked like a huge ball of ice sitting on the reef, this newly discovered coral looks like the ice has started to melt, spreading out indefinitely across the sea floor,” said Molly Timmers, senior scientist at the reef. ‘shipping. Its size is larger than that of a blue whale and it is “so colossal” that it could even be visible from space, she estimated. But the team only discovered it almost by chance, just before moving to another location.
Ocean acidity and warming are negatively affecting the region’s ecosystems, including Australia’s famous Great Barrier Reef (read box). Coral uses the calcium carbonate found in the water to create its skeleton: when the water becomes acidic, this organism struggles to grow in strength and health.
“While nearby shallow reefs have been degraded by warming seas, this large, healthy coral oasis in slightly deeper waters is a beacon of hope,” says coral specialist Eric Brown.
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>> Read also: The Great Barrier Reef could be classified as “in danger” by UNESCO
Stéphanie Jaquet and the agencies
