Most hard corals in Fiji and the world are colorful on the outside but when cracked open or broken, will reveal a white skeleton. One of the exceptions to this is the blue coral (scientific name: Heliopora coerulea), which has a blue skeleton inside, made of aragonite and iron salts which gives it its blue pigmentation.
It was found by Ron Vave, a senior scientific officer at the University of the South Pacific's Institute of Applied Science, during a dive of a reef near Tiliva Island, in Viwa, Fiji. Mr. Vave was attending a conservation workshop held at Najia Village, Fiji. One component of the workshop was on the sustainable use of natural resources by communities to ensure a bountiful supply for its current and future generations. The three villages on Viwa Island are working to establish a marine protected area which might now also include the reef area off Tiliva Island where this blue corals was found.
What's slightly worrying is that only a single blue coral colony, measuring about 25cm high and 30cm wide, was found during Mr. Vave's dive. More surveys may be performed on reefs around Viwa Island to ascertain whether there are more of these blue corals.
Rare, blue coral found
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