Scientists swimming over the top of the Porites coral at Goolboodi. Credit: Woody Spark.
Scientists swimming over the top of the Porites coral at Goolboodi. Credit: Woody Spark.

When it comes to coral on the Great Barrier Reef, this one's the chonkiest

Embargoed until: Publicly released:
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

Scientists have identified the widest coral on the Great Barrier Reef, measuring in at a chonky 10.4 meters in width, which is 2.4 meters wider than the next-widest coral on the GBR. The coral is known as Muga dhambi (Big coral) by the Manbarra people who are the traditional custodians of the Palm Islands where the coral was discovered. Using calculations based on coral growth rates and annual sea surface temperatures, the researchers estimate that Muga dhambi is between 421 and 438 years old and predates European exploration and settlement of Australia.

Journal/conference: Scientific Reports

Link to research (DOI): 10.1038/s41598-021-94818-w

Organisation/s: James Cook University

Funder: This discovery was made as part of Reef Ecologic’s Integrated Coral Reef Citizen Science Program funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

Media release

From: Springer Nature

Biology: Widest coral in the Great Barrier Reef identified *IMAGES* 

An exceptionally large coral – a structure made up of small marine animals and calcium carbonate – discovered in the Great Barrier Reef is described in Scientific Reports this week. It is the widest and sixth tallest coral measured in the Great Barrier Reef.

The coral was discovered by snorkelers off the coast of Goolboodi (also known as Orpheus Island), part of the Palm Island Group in Queensland, Australia. It has been named Muga dhambi (Big coral) by the Manbarra people, the traditional custodians of the Palm Islands. Adam Smith and colleagues surveyed Muga dhambi and found that it is hemispherical, 5.3 metres tall and 10.4 metres wide, which makes it 2.4 metres wider than the next-widest coral measured in the Great Barrier Reef. Using calculations based on coral growth rates and annual sea surface temperatures, the authors estimate that Muga dhambi is between 421 and 438 years old and predates European exploration and settlement of Australia. A review of the environmental events that have occurred in the past 450 years indicates that Muga dhambi may have survived up to 80 major cyclones and centuries of exposure to invasive species, coral bleaching events, low tides and human activity. The researchers report that Muga dhambi is in very good health with 70% consisting of live coral, the rest being covered with the green boring sponge, Cliona viridis, turf algae and green algae.

The authors recommend monitoring of this rare and unusually resilient large coral and comment that restoration may be needed in the future to minimise the potential negative impacts of climate change, declining water quality, overfishing and coastal development.

News for:

Australia
QLD

Multimedia:

  • Measuring Muga dhambi
    Measuring Muga dhambi

    Scientists using a tape to measure the dimensions of the Porites coral at Goolboodi

    File size: 277.3 KB

    Attribution: Woody Spark

    Permission category: Free to share (must credit)

    Last modified: 21 Aug 2021 12:24am

    NOTE: High resolution files can only be downloaded here by registered journalists who are logged in.

Show less
Show more

Media contact details for this story are only visible to registered journalists.