Overview
- Recreational divers Jan Pope and Sophie Kalkowski-Pope found the sprawling structure during the Great Reef Census off Cairns in late 2025.
- A January 2026 return survey combined in-water measurements with high-resolution photogrammetry and 3D modeling in collaboration with QUT’s Centre for Robotics.
- Measurements report a length of about 111 meters and an estimated 3,973 square meters of coverage, placing it among the largest documented coral colonies.
- Researchers provisionally identify the coral as Pavona clavus and estimate it to be centuries old, noting its survival through cyclones and mass bleaching events.
- Exact coordinates are being withheld as data are handed to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for management decisions, and extensive genetic sampling is pending to determine colony individuality.