Divers stunned after discovering shadow they believed to be shipwreck is actually alive
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: National Geographic/Getty Images/ifish
It is a wonder how the divers didn’t end up having a massive panic attack after making quite the shocking discovery.
If I was doing a deep dive, I really wouldn’t want any surprises.
I’d want everything to be what I think it is. If It looks like a small fish I'd like to stay a small fish and not surprise me and be a massive whale. If i thought something was a shipwreck I'd like to know it isn’t actually alive.
But for some divers searching the depths of the Solomon Islands, a country in Oceania, they made quite the discovery that would give most people a fright.
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Thankfully they hadn’t found a prehistoric creature or even worse the Lovecraftian monster Cthulu, but it still stunned them all the same.
What they thought was a shipwreck was actually the largest coral colony ever discovered.
Measuring an impressive 112 by 105 feet, it is even visible from space.
The team behind the discovery, the National Geographic's Pristine Seas project, believed it was a shipwreck because the map they were using had suggested there actually was one in the area.
The expedition’s lead scientist Molly Timmers said: “[Its discovery] was really serendipitous."
“It was found the night before we were moving to another section.”
The team have explained that the colony is likely made up of nearly a billion genetically identical coral polyps that work together in the colony as if they are one organism.
Enric Sala, National Geographic Explorer in Residence and founder of Pristine Sea explained this further.
She said: “Finding this mega coral is like discovering the tallest tree on Earth.
“This discovery rekindles our sense of awe and wonder about the ocean.”
The coral sits at a depth of only 42 feet (12m) making it a wonder why it had never been discovered before.
Timmers also explained why it wasn’t found until now.
Speaking to the National Geographic she said: “It's amazing that they've just found this and nobody really noticed before
“There's this Western belief that we have seen all of our [coastal] waters.
“But many, many people don't have the masks and snorkels to actually put their heads in the water to see it.
“It gives you that wow factor—life really created this and has sustained this massive colony. It's like our ancestors are still there in the water.”