The giant creature, measuring 34 metres, isn’t a fish, or even a marine mammal like a whale, but Pavona clavus – a species of colonial stony coral.
A colossal sea organism, towering over 100 feet, has fascinated marine experts after being accidentally stumbled across in Pacific waters near Malaulalo, in the Solomon Islands. But this isn’t a mere fish or a marine mammal; it’s Pavona Clavus, a kind of colonial stony coral.
Corals are distant cousins of jellyfish and sea anemones but are surrounded by a hard shell and form colonies that settle on the seabed.
This particular Pavona Clavus has set a new record at an astounding 34 metres (110ft) wide, 32 metres (105ft) long, and about 5.5 metres (18ft) tall, overshadowing the coral that held the title as largest previously, a colony from American Samoa, by 12 metres. The coral is so massive that, according to National Geographic, it could be seen from space.
The discovery was made by chance by cameraman Manu San Felix while diving on a mission with National Geographic’s Pristine Seas expedition to document a shipwreck.
On witnessing the gigantic coral, he expressed: “It’s amazing to see something so large and so old – about 300 years old – recovering despite such significant changes in the environment.”
Coral reefs worldwide are besieged by threats, primarily global warming-induced ocean acidification, other ill effects of pollution, rampant overfishing, and the havoc wreaked by destructive fishing techniques. However, Pavona Clavus remains classified as ‘least concern’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List – so much so that the expedition team who discovered the gigantic coral described it as being in “excellent health”.
Molly Timmers, the lead scientist of the expedition, said the discovery of the colossal organism was “was really serendipitous” and added: “It was found the night before we were moving to another section”.
Helen Findlay, a biological oceanographer at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, who wasn’t part of the expedition, commented: “It’s amazing that they’ve just found this and nobody really noticed before.”
