Photo by Oleksandr Sushko on Unsplash (illustrative)
On 14 November 2024, scientists on a National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition announced that they had found the world's largest known coral off the southeastern Solomon Islands in the Pacific. It is a single colony of the species Pavona clavus, not a reef made of many corals.
Key facts
The colony is about 34 meters wide, 32 meters long and 5 meters tall, larger than a blue whale.
It is estimated to be around 300 years old and is made of nearly one billion genetically identical polyps.
It is roughly three times larger than the previous record holder, a coral known as 'Big Momma' in American Samoa.
It sits about 13 meters below the surface, and a cinematographer on the team, Manu San Félix, was the first to spot it.
Why it matters
Coral reefs are under heavy pressure from warming seas, so finding a giant that has stayed healthy for centuries is a rare piece of good news. It has thrived in slightly deeper, cooler water while shallow reefs nearby suffered.
Worth noting
Nearby shallow reefs were degraded by warmer seas, and the coral still faces threats from ocean heating, overfishing and pollution. Between 2023 and 2024, about 77% of the world's coral reef areas saw bleaching-level heat.