'Big coral' embodies hope for Great Barrier Reef

摘要

A coral the size of a carousel is the widest known in the Great Barrier Reef. Found just off the coast of Goolboodi Island in northeast Australia, this reef-building Porites measures 10.4 meters in diameter - earning it the nickname Muga dhambi, or "big coral," from the Indigenous custodians of the island, the Manbarra people. Muga dhambi also stands a little over 5 meters tall, making it the sixth-tallest coral in the Great Barrier Reef, researchers report August 19 in Scientific Reports. Based on the coral's height and estimated growth rate, marine scientist Nathan Cook of the environmental consulting firm Reef Ecologic in Townsville, Australia, and colleagues calculate that Muga dhambi is about 421 to 438 years old. It predates European colonization of Australia and has survived as many as 80 cyclones and 99 coral bleaching events, the team says. That Muga dhambi has persisted for so long provides "a renewed sense of hope for the future" of the Great Barrier Reef, Cook says.