A mother and daughter just found a record breaking coral colony in Australia

A newly mapped coral colony stretches longer than a football pitch.

Few people expect to find something new on the Great Barrier Reef that is visible from the surface. But off the coast of Far North Queensland, a mother and daughter dived into the waves and found a coral colony so immense it effectively remade the seafloor.

The colony, a species known as Pavona clavus covers nearly 4,000 square meters. According to the Citizens of the Reef, that makes it the largest documented coral colony on the Great Barrier Reef—and one of the biggest ever recorded on Earth.

An Underwater Meadow

The colony, a species known as Pavona clavus covers nearly 4,000 square meters. According to the Citizens of the Reef, that makes it the largest documented coral colony on the Great Barrier Reef—and one of the biggest ever recorded on Earth.

The species itself is uncommon. Marine scientists say Pavona clavus doesn’t turn up often, but when it does, it can grow to extraordinary sizes. Even by that standard, this one is immense. Nothing on the Great Barrier Reef has been recorded at this scale so far.

Secrets of the Reef

The species itself is uncommon. Marine scientists say Pavona clavus doesn’t turn up often, but when it does, it can grow to extraordinary sizes. Even by that standard, this one is immense. Nothing on the Great Barrier Reef has been recorded at this scale so far.

One major uncertainty remains. Scientists still need genetic testing to confirm whether this vast structure is a single colony descended from a single original polyp, or several neighboring colonies fused together over time. That could require hundreds of samples.

But for now, researchers keep the coral’s exact location a secret to protect it.

“Discoveries like this are significant because the reef still holds so many unknowns, and we don’t know what we stand to lose,” Kalkowski-Pope said.

Cover photo:  An “absolutely stunning ecosystem and hotspot of life,” according to Sophie Kalkowski-Pope. Credit: Richard Fitzpatrick