In the warm blue waters of the Solomon Islands, an island chain in the South Pacific, lies one of the world’s largest sea creatures.
Roughly the size of two basketball courts, it’s neither a whale nor a giant squid.
It is a single piece of coral.
On Wednesday, a team of researchers and filmmakers exploring the Solomon Islands revealed that they found what they claim is the world’s largest individual coral colony.
The coral, a communal organism comprising millions of animals called polyps, is 34 meters wide and 32 meters long — and so large it can be seen from space. A typical coral reef is made of many different coral colonies, most of which are genetically distinct, whereas this is just one individual.
In new photos shared by the research team, the coral, a species known as Pavona clavus, looks like a lumpy brown mound covered in knobs. Closer views reveal bits of yellow, green, and purple. Given its size and the slow speed at which corals grow, this individual is likely several centuries old.
The mega coral is so large it dwarfs the diver alongside it.
“It’s a dream to see something unique like this,” Manu San Félix, an underwater photographer and marine biologist who first saw the coral last month in the Solomon Islands, told Vox. “When Napoleon was alive, this thing was here.”
San Félix discovered the coral while filming near an island called Malaulalo for an ongoing National Geographic expedition. The expedition, a collaboration with the Solomon Islands government, is part of National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project, which aims to help countries establish more marine parks, in part by documenting sea life.
It’s the biggest known animal of its kind. Measuring 34 meters wide, 32 meters long and 5.5 meters high, with a circumference of 183 meters, the gigantic organism is a complex network of coral polyps. Visible from space, the mega coral is three times larger than the previous record-breaker, is believed to be about 300 years old, storing a record of ocean conditions from past centuries."
Malaulalo is an uninhabited island in Solomon Islands; it is the central one of the Olu Malau (Three Sisters) Islands located in Makira-Ulawa Province.
Malaulalo Island is a beautiful island complete in itself and with a great attraction for ecotourism. Apart from its white sandy beaches and natural coastal landscapes, the island has a rich natural ecosystem and marine biodiversity.
Let Leleana Resort Kolombangara get you there! Come stay...discover!
Comments