Koh Tao Giants

Another giant from our partners Global Reef, a new giant ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข sitting at a depth of 7m and measuring 6.8m x 2.8m. And a close up of its truly beautiful coral polyps. These species seem to grow very slowly, possibly making even the smallest of the giants a very old organism.

marhe center, bicocca, giant corals

Global Reef finds another giant

Another giant from our partners Global Reef , a new giant ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข sitting at a depth of 7m and measuring 6.8m x 2.8m. Here we also provide a close up of its truly beautiful coral polyps. These species seem to grow very slowly making even the smallest of the giants a very old organism. Eyes open during your future dives!

marhe center, bicocca, giant corals
marhe center, bicocca, giant corals
Map the Giants corals marhe center bicocca

A Diploastrea sp. from Thailand

๐Ÿชธ ๐Ÿ“ฃHere comes a giant all the way from ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Thailand, thanks to our partnerย @global_reefย , who has been supporting us over the past few months. The area where they operate appears to harbor quite a few of these incredible creatures, and their efforts in monitoring them have been remarkable. More reports will follow in the near future.

Considering that Diploastrea heliopora corals, like the one reported by Global Reef, have a particularly slow growth rate of approximately 3.6 mm per year (D’Olivo JP, Zinke J et al., 2024), this large colony, measuring 7.2 meters in diameter, could indeed be a truly ancient coral.

Map the Giants corals marhe center bicocca
Diploastrea heliopora from Thailand
Map the Giants corals marhe center bicocca

Map the Giants partners with Global Reef

In its quest to locate and study ๐Ÿชธ giant centennial coral colonies, Map the Giants has now reached the Gulf of Thailand thanks to the support of Global Reef based in Koh Tao ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ.
This organization aims to โ€œconnect a global audience to the marine worldโ€ฆanywhere and everywhereโ€ฆโ€ ๐ŸŒŽ

Their support is pivotal in expanding the scope of Map the Giants to new areas and provide an opportunity to study the colonies in the long the term and through photogrammetry.

Thanks for your support Global Reef!