Scientists say they've discovered a "mega coral" three times bigger than the previous record holder - so huge they initially thought it was a shipwreck.

The largest coral ever recorded has been found by scientists in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The mega coral - which is a collection of many connected, tiny creatures that together form one organism rather than a reef - could be more than 300 years old. It is bigger than a blue whale, the team say.

The enormous organism is bigger than a blue whale and made up of millions of genetically identical, tiny animals called polyps

A group of scientists has discovered the world’s largest single coral, measuring more than 100 feet long, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It’s more than three times bigger than the previous record holder,

A group of scientists working aboard a research vessel in the southwest Pacific Ocean has discovered the world’s largest coral. Thirty-four meters wide and thirty-two meters long, the gigantic organism is a complex network of coral polyps—tiny individual creatures—that have grown over a span of three centuries.

Scientists say they have found the world's largest coral near the Pacific's Solomon Islands, announcing Thursday a major discovery "pulsing with life and colour".