Another giant from our partners Global Reef, a new giant ๐๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข 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.
Another giant from our partners Global Reef , a new giant ๐๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข 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!
๐ชธ ๐ฃHere comes a giant all the way from ๐น๐ญ 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.
In its quest to locate and study ๐ชธ 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 ๐น๐ญ.
This organization aims to โconnect a global audience to the marine worldโฆanywhere and everywhereโฆโ ๐
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!