The world's biggest coral — an organism made up of about a billion polyps — is about three times bigger than the previous record-holder and was discovered by chance during an expedition off the Solomon Islands.

The largest coral in the world has been found in the Solomon Islands. The coral, which is visible from space, is three times larger than the previous record-breaker, and is believed to be about 300 years old.

For centuries, an extraordinary coral lay hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean’s surface near the Solomon Islands, growing unnoticed on the seabed. Now, scientists from National Geographic’s Pristine Seas program have uncovered this massive living structure,