Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/18
By: Tyson Lu and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) The world’s largest single-entity, small-pores coral known to locals as “Big Mushroom” in the sea near Ludao (Green Island) off Taitung County has fallen, a diving coach said Sunday.

Yu Ming-hung (俞明宏) said he had worried that the two consecutive typhoons over the past week might do something terrible to the coral, and “now my bad dream has come true.”

Yu dived into the sea to take a look earlier Sunday as soon as Typhoon Malakas had left Taiwan, following Meranti which battered the southeastern county and nearby Pingtung and Kaohsiung badly last Wednesday.

He said the 1,000-year-old coral, whose “root” had grown on the 18-meter-deep seabed since Sung Dynasty to be 10 meters tall, was pummeled flat by 15-meter waves brought by Strong Typhoon Meranti.     [FULL  STORY]