A mother-and-daughter team of citizen scientists has identified the world’s largest known coral colony, found on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.It spans about 111 meters (364 feet) – roughly the same length as a soccer pitch – and covers around 3,973 square meters (42,765 feet), according to a statement from conservation organization Citizens of the Reef Tuesday.This means it is “among the most significant coral structures ever recorded on the Great Barrier Reef,” and “the largest documented and mapped coral colony in the world,” according to the organization.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe coral was found late last year by Sophie Kalkowski-Pope, marine operations coordinator at Citizens of the Reef, and her mother, Jan Pope, an experienced diver and underwater photographer.The coral is around the same length as a soccer field. – Jan Pope/Citizens of the ReefPope had been diving at the site a week before, and knew she’d seen something special. So, the pair returned with measuring equipment.“When we hopped in the water, immediately I could recognize the significance of what we were seeing,” said Kalkowski-Pope. Together, they filmed a video, swimming across the expanse of the J-shaped coral. “It took me a three-minute video just to swim from one side to the other,” Kalkowski-Pope said.The size of the Pavona clavus coral was verified using manual underwater measurements and high-resolution imagery taken from platforms on the water surface.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis data was then used to produce a 3D model of the coral, according to Citizens of the Reef.Jan Pope and her daughter Sophie Kalkowski-Pope found the massive coral late last year. – Citizens Of The ReefThis kind of spatial modeling is useful in monitoring the site and how it changes, as it “means we can return in future months and years and make direct, one-to-one comparisons to understand how the coral changes over time,” said Serena Mou, research engineer at the Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Robotics.The site has been found to experience strong tidal current …
