The discovery was made by Sophie Kalkowski-Pope and her mom Jan Pope, as a part of The Great Reef Census, run by Citizens of the Reef.
This challenge sees members of the general public – together with divers, boat house owners and volunteers from everywhere in the world – assist scientists monitor the well being of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
The duo got here throughout the brand new discover, whereas they had been diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
“I knew right from the minute we dropped in that it was something special,” Sophie stated.
“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 obtained again to dry land, the pair knowledgeable the Citizens of the Reef conservation charity, who went out to verify the location.
Using particular cameras, underwater measurements and 3D laptop fashions, scientists had been capable of measure the scale of the colony.