Scientists announced Thursday that they had discovered the world’s largest coral near the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, 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 almost 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 southeastern Solomon Islands by a National Geographic team who were on a scientific expedition to the area.
According to the researchers, this autonomous 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, they explained.
Measuring 34 meters wide by 32 meters long, the new Solomons coral 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 seafloor,” 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.
Ocean acidity and warming are negatively affecting the region’s ecosystems, including Australia’s famous Great Barrier Reef.
“While nearby shallow reefs have been degraded by warming seas, this large, healthy coral oasis in slightly deeper waters is a beacon of hope,” said coral specialist Eric Brown.
