'It's extraordinary': Scientists discover world's largest coral grown over 3 centuries

SINGAPORE — Scientists say they have discovered the world's largest coral in the remote Solomon Islands and that it is thriving, despite corals in tropical regions increasingly under threat from global warming. Measuring 34m wide, 32m long and 5.5m high, the gigantic organism is a complex network of polyps — tiny individual creatures — that have grown over three centuries, said the scientists. The coral was discovered during an ongoing research expedition to the Solomon Islands, in the south-west Pacific Ocean, that began in October 2024. The coral is longer than a blue whale and nearly as long as a Boeing 737 aircraft. It comprises a single species, Pavona clavus, and its huge size provides shelter and breeding grounds for fish, crabs, shrimp and other creatures. It is different from a reef, which is a network of many coral colonies and species. Members of the National Geographic Pristine Seas team made the discovery in the Three Sisters island group, just to the north of San Cristobal, one of the main islands in the Solomons, which has one of the greatest variety of coral species on the planet. 

'It's extraordinary': Scientists discover world's largest coral grown over 3 centuries

'It's extraordinary': Scientists discover world's largest coral grown over 3 centuries

'It's extraordinary': Scientists discover world's largest coral grown over 3 centuries

'It's extraordinary': Scientists discover world's largest coral grown over 3 centuries

'It's extraordinary': Scientists discover world's largest coral grown over 3 centuries