Scientists yesterday said they have found the world’s largest coral near the Pacific’s Solomon Islands, announcing a major discovery “pulsing with life and color.”
The coral is so immense that researchers sailing the crystal waters of the Solomon archipelago initially thought they had stumbled across a hulking shipwreck.
“Just when we think there is nothing left to discover on planet Earth, we find a massive coral made of nearly 1 billion little polyps, pulsing with life and color,” marine ecologist Enric Sala said.
Photo: AFP / Manu San Felix / National Geographic Pristine Seas
The standalone structure had been growing for about 300 years, the researchers said, formed from a “complex network” of tiny coral polyps.
It was distinct from a coral reef, which is made from many distinct coral colonies, they said.
Measuring 34m wide and 32m long, the team said the “mega coral” was three times bigger than the previous record holder — a coral dubbed “Big Momma” in American Samoa.
“While Big Momma looked like a huge scoop of ice cream plopped down on the reef, this newly discovered coral is as if the ice cream started to melt, spreading forever along the seafloor,” lead scientist Molly Timmers said.
It was longer than a blue whale and was thought to be “so colossal” that it could “be seen from space.”
The coral was discovered at the southeastern tip of the Solomon Islands in an area known as the Three Sisters. It was spotted by a National Geographic team embarking on a scientific expedition in the region.
“While the nearby shallow reefs were degraded due to warmer seas, witnessing this large healthy coral oasis in slightly deeper waters is a beacon of hope,” coral scientist Eric Brown said.
The lush rainforests and pristine waters of Solomon Islands have long been celebrated for their ecological diversity.
“There is so much to learn about the richness of marine life and the ocean ecosystem, but this finding opens doors of knowledge,” Solomon Islands official Collin Beck said. “More scientific research is needed to better understand our rich biodiversity and our planet.”
Indonesia was to sign an agreement to repatriate two British nationals, including a grandmother languishing on death row for drug-related crimes, an Indonesian government source said yesterday. “The practical arrangement will be signed today. The transfer will be done immediately after the technical side of the transfer is agreed,” the source said, identifying Lindsay Sandiford and 35-year-old Shahab Shahabadi as the people being transferred. Sandiford, a grandmother, was sentenced to death on the island of Bali in 2013 after she was convicted of trafficking drugs. Customs officers found cocaine worth an estimated US$2.14 million hidden in a false bottom in Sandiford’s suitcase when
CAUSE UNKNOWN: Weather and runway conditions were suitable for flight operations at the time of the accident, and no distress signal was sent, authorities said A cargo aircraft skidded off the runway into the sea at Hong Kong International Airport early yesterday, killing two ground crew in a patrol car, in one of the worst accidents in the airport’s 27-year history. The incident occurred at about 3:50am, when the plane is suspected to have lost control upon landing, veering off the runway and crashing through a fence, the Airport Authority Hong Kong said. The jet hit a security patrol car on the perimeter road outside the runway zone, which then fell into the water, it said in a statement. The four crew members on the plane, which
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner yesterday signed a coalition deal, paving the way for Sanae Takaichi to become the nation’s first female prime minister. The 11th-hour agreement with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) came just a day before the lower house was due to vote on Takaichi’s appointment as the fifth prime minister in as many years. If she wins, she will take office the same day. “I’m very much looking forward to working with you on efforts to make Japan’s economy stronger, and to reshape Japan as a country that can be responsible for future generations,”
SEVEN-MINUTE HEIST: The masked thieves stole nine pieces of 19th-century jewelry, including a crown, which they dropped and damaged as they made their escape The hunt was on yesterday for the band of thieves who stole eight priceless royal pieces of jewelry from the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris in broad daylight. Officials said a team of 60 investigators was working on the theory that the raid was planned and executed by an organized crime group. The heist reignited a row over a lack of security in France’s museums, with French Minister of Justice yesterday admitting to security flaws in protecting the Louvre. “What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of
RSS