The massive coral colony “Muga dhambi” is one of the largest and oldest of its kind in the Great Barrier Reef. (Image credit: Richard Woodgett/Grumpy Turtle) Australian scientists have discovered one of the largest and oldest coral colonies in the Great Barrier Reef, which is the largest coral reef system on Earth . The massive coral belongs to the genus Porites and measures 34 feet (10.4 meters) wide and 17.4 feet (5.3 m) tall, making it the widest and sixth-tallest coral in the Great Barrier Reef . Snorkelers found the record-breaking coral off the coast of Goolboodi, part of the Palm Island Group in Queensland, Australia, and they named it “Muga dhambi” — meaning “big coral” in the language of the Manbarra people, who are the Indigenous people of Palm Islands. The researchers found that the massive coral has been around for between 421 and 438 years, meaning that it predates the colonization of Australia. The colony has survived centuries of exposure to invasive species , coral bleaching events and low tides, as well as around 80 major cyclones , the researchers said. “The structure is probably one of the oldest on the Great Barrier Reef,” Nathan Cook, a […]
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