A mother-daughter team of citizen scientists has discovered the world’s largest known coral colony on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The massive structure is as long as a football field.
Jan Pope and Sophie Kalkowski-Pope found the coral while conducting a reef census from their family vessel. Kalkowski-Pope serves as marine operations coordinator at the conservation group Citizens of the Reef.
“I knew right from the minute we dropped in that it was something special,” Kalkowski-Pope said in a statement. Pope added that she had never seen coral growing like this before, describing it as a meadow that just went on and on.
The coral colony measures about 364 feet long with an approximate footprint of 42,765 square feet. For comparison, previously recorded large colonies of the same species typically range from 100 to 115 feet.
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Corals grow as groups of genetically identical polyps, each an individual organism. They build reefs by secreting calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
The team analyzed and mapped the site using a combination of in-water measurements, surface-based high-resolution imaging, and three-dimensional modeling. Researchers at the Centre for Robotics at the Queensland University of Technology collaborated on the spatial modeling.
Serena Mou, research engineer at Queensland University of Technology, explained the value of this approach. The high-resolution data allows scientists to take precise measurements and return in future years to make direct comparisons and understand how the coral changes over time.
To protect the coral, its exact location is being kept secret. Analysis shows the site has strong tidal currents but relatively low exposure to cyclonic waves. Scientists are studying these conditions to learn how such a vast coral structure has managed to grow and endure.
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The researchers stress that this discovery does not mean coral reefs are recovering or that climate pressures like rising ocean temperatures and acidification are decreasing. Instead, it highlights how reef systems respond unevenly to environmental stress. Identifying and protecting potential strongholds and reefs that may serve as key spawning sources remains important.
Kalkowski-Pope said discoveries like this matter because the reef still holds so many unknowns. “We don’t know what we stand to lose,” she said.
