Scientists say world's largest coral found near Solomon Islands

Sydney: Scientists say they have found the world s largestcoralnear the Pacific s Solomon Islands, announcing Thursday a major discovery pulsing with...

Sydney: Scientists say they have found the world's largest coral near the Pacific's Solomon Islands, announcing Thursday a major discovery "pulsing with life and colour".

The coral is so immense that researchers sailing the crystal waters of the Solomon archipelago initially thought they had stumbled across a hulking shipwreck.

"Just when we think there is nothing left to discover on planet earth, we find a massive coral made of nearly one billion little polyps, pulsing with life and colour," marine ecologist Enric Sala said.

The standalone structure had been growing for some 300 years, the researchers said, formed from a "complex network" of tiny coral polyps.