The Facts

• A National Geographic videographer has found the world's largest coral — so big it can reportedly be seen from space — near the Solomon Islands. The 105 feet-by-111 feet, brown-and-bright yellow "mega coral" is said to be 300 years old and bigger than a blue whale.

• Marine ecologist Enric Sala reportedly said the coral — three times bigger than "Big Momma," the previous record holder, in American Samoa — is "made of nearly one billion little polyps." It was found in October during a study of the effects of hotter and more acidic oceans.

• Belonging to the Pavona clavus — or "shoulder blade" — species, it “is an enormous encyclopaedia that has written how to survive multiple climatic conditions.” Scientists hope this "really serendipitous” discovery inspires more protections for marine life.