The discovery was made by Sophie Kalkowski-Pope and her mother Jan Pope, as part of The Great Reef Census, run by Citizens of the Reef.
This project sees members of the public – including divers, boat owners and volunteers from all over the world – help scientists monitor the health of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
The duo came across the new find, while they were diving at the Great Barrier Reef.
“I knew right from the minute we dropped in that it was something special,” Sophie said.
“When I got in the water, I’d never seen coral growing like this before,” Jan added.
“It looked like a meadow of coral. It just went on and on.”
When they got back to dry land, the pair informed the Citizens of the Reef conservation charity, who went out to check the site.
Using special cameras, underwater measurements and 3D computer models, scientists were able to measure the size of the colony.
