Scientists say they have found the world’s largest coral near the Pacific’s Solomon Islands. The discovery was announced as representatives from around the world meet in Baku, Azerbaijan for the COP29 United Nations summit on climate change.
Key points
- The coral is so immense that researchers sailing the crystal waters of the Solomon archipelago initially thought they’d stumbled across a hulking shipwreck.
- The coral was discovered at the southeastern tip of the Solomon Islands, in an area known as the Three Sisters.
- The standalone structure, formed from a “complex network” of tiny coral polyps, has likely been growing for 300 years or more.
- At about 111 feet wide and 104 feet long, the team said the “mega coral” was three times bigger than the previous record holder — a coral dubbed “Big Momma” in American Samoa.
- The massive coral is not a coral reef, structures that can be far larger but are comprised of many distinct coral colonies.
- The lush rainforests and pristine waters of the Solomon Islands have long been celebrated for their ecological diversity.
- Wildlife observations made in the area in the 1920s helped prove a key part of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
