Whilst exploring Faafu Atoll, the MaRHE Center team landed on an uninhabited island and came across this huge Heliopora coerulea. Athough Blue Coral are actually Octocorals, they are nonetheless reef-building organisms, largely contributing to the foundation of this ecosystem. Measuring 9m in length is separated by less than a mt from a second 7m long Heliopora. Were they previously a single huge GIANT? This is one of the questions our future studies would like to solve.
This research is being conducted under the permit NRP2023/79 by Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources and by EPA permit PA/2023/PAR-1
Published on: 10 April 2024