Surprisingly large coral seen in the Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelers swimming in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have come across a coral of epic proportions. Composed of living organisms, the gigantic mass is the widest coral ever found in the region and one of the oldest.

The coral, discovered last March, is 5.3 meters high and 10.4 meters wide. This makes it the widest individual coral structure and the sixth highest according to the new Australian coral barrier research published in Scientific Reports. The coral is almost 8 feet long wider than the previous record holder at the Great Barrier Reef. Adjunct Professor Adam Smith of James Cook University led the new research.

Recreational snorkelers found the coral while swimming off the coast of Goolboodi Island, a member of the Palm Island Group of Queensland. Coral, a happy conglomeration of tiny marine animals and calcium carbonate, is found in a protected area that rarely receives visitors. The researchers consulted the traditional owners of this territory, the people of Manbarra, and chose to call them coral. Muga sin, which translates to “big coral.”

Smith and his colleagues toured the available literature and spoke with other scientists to better understand coral and how it compares to others. The natural structure belongs to the Porites genus: a group of coral known for its enormous size. These corals can be found in Japan, Taiwan and American Samoa, where the latter region is home to one absolutely colossal Porites colony measuring 8 meters high and 22.4 meters at its widest point.

Often brown and cream, Porites coral is built from small, stone-like polyps that “secrete layers of calcium carbonate under their bodies as they grow, forming the foundations on which reefs are built,” according to Smith, along with co-authors of the study, Nathan Cook, a marine scientist at Cook University, and Vicki Saylor, a traditional Manbarra owner with indigenous knowledge, wrote in a article prepared for The Conversation.

Approximately 70% of the structure is live coral, and the remaining 30% consists of boring green sponge, grass algae and green algae, according to the study. Live coral “may die due to exposure to the sun at low tide or warm water, and dead coral” may be rapidly colonized by opportunistic and fast-growing organisms, as is the case with Muga sin“, The authors wrote in The Conversation.

Between 421 and 438 years, Muga sin he is old as well as big. The age estimate was obtained by calculating coral growth rates and annual sea surface temperatures. The oldest known coral in the Great Barrier Reef is 436 years old Muga sin it’s right there in relation to age. As the authors point out, Muga sin is a survivor, which has withstood more than 80 major cyclones over the years. This hardy coral has managed to protect itself invasive species, episodes of coral discoloration (scientists found no evidence) bleaching), low tides and, at least so far, human activities.

Muga sin it seems to be healthy, but climate change is human, water quality is low and other factors threatens this coral and the Great Barrier Reef in general. Scientists ask atthe radicalwinners and others to control the coral in the hope that it will continue to thrive for many more generations.

Month: Very high coral reefs were found off the coast of Australia.