New coral reef discovery in Pacific

A huge coral reef has been discovered in the Pacific Ocean.

The coral reef was discovered by a videographer working on a ship in remote parts of the Southwest Pacific, near the Solomon Islands.

The diver had initially mistaken the coral reef for a ship. It was measured at 34 metres wide, 32 metres long and over 5 metres high. This makes it possibly the largest coral ever discovered in the Pacific.

The coral reef is deeper than most other reefs. The depth is what is perhaps protecting the coral from rapidly rising sea surface temperatures.

The reef is brown, but also has some yellow, red, pink and blue spots. Little else is known, but the coral appears to be in good health.

Nature organisation IUCN on Wednesday 13th November came out with the news that 44% of tropical and subtropical coral species are threatened with extinction.

The main cause of this is the rapid warming of the sea surface. Corals fade as a result and eventually die off.