via Ocean Gardner, all images courtesy Ocean Gardner
Only a few weeks after a remarkable colony of Pavona clavus, claiming the title of the world’s largest coral was found and measured in the Solomon Islands, another giant coral colony was measured in Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia, and discovered to be even bigger.
The now famous Solomon Island Pavona colony is 34m wide, 32m long, and 5.5m high. The newest contender vying to claim the title of ‘World’s Largest Coral’ is a colony of Galaxea astreata found on the north coast of Nusa Penida, off Sental Village, a very popular diving spot in Bali. Although hundreds of divers swim through that colony every day, not many of them realize the astonishing uniqueness of this particular natural living monument.
“This discovery has the potential to set a new world record. However, further testing is needed to confirm its status among the world’s giant coral colonies,” Ocean Gardener Research and Science Coordinator Manikmayang explained to the Indonesian National News. “The Galaxea colony was measured at 58 m wide, 71 m long, 10 m high, covering an area of over 4000 m2.”
Nusa Penida, Bali, is located in the Lombok Strait and in the middle of the Indonesian throughflow current, where the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean. It is a major crossroads in the coral world, a central location where corals can grow to gigantic sizes and produce billions of larvae that seed reefs all over the Indian Ocean. For these reasons, Nusa Penida is a critically important location in the center of the Indo-Pacific coral map.
Thankfully, the giant coral of Nusa Penida is already located within a marine protected area. The team at Ocean Gardener hopes this coral will be a new focal point within this region, every bit as interesting as the Manta Ray and Ocean Sunfish populations that attract divers’ curiosity and support of conservation efforts.
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