Japan: Discover huge 300-year-old coral blocks

A huge mass of coral dating to about 300 years has been found off Azuchi Island - Oshima in Nagasaki Prefecture, southern Japan.

The coral reef is 3.8 m long, 3 m wide and 1.3 m high, discovered by a diver of NTT World Marine Maritime Company at a depth of about 10 m while moving undersea cable.

According to Professor Satoshi Nojima, currently working at Kyushiu University, this may be one of the largest coral blocks in Japan. He said corals only grow 5mm per year and the largest known coral mass previously discovered off the Amakusa coast of Kumamoto Prefecture measured about 50 cm.

(Artwork: Bhopal.net)