A diver checks the surface of a coral ball near the Amami island chain.
PHOTO FROM UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

Japan's largest coral ball found on seabed off Kagoshima

Thursday 18th June, 06:44 AM JST

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namabiru4me at 07:51 AM JST - 18th June

oishii sou!

Oh, wait...Do Japanese eat coral balls???
ogtob at 08:14 AM JST - 18th June

It will probably be destroyed by the thousands that now go flock to see it.
LFRAgain at 08:39 AM JST - 18th June

Associate Professor Yokohama went on to say, "Now that we've discovered it, we'll devote all possible resources to discovering how to classify it as a traditional Japanese food staple and eat all coral balls like it unto near extinction."
Disillusioned at 08:50 AM JST - 18th June

Does anybody else notice the total lack of any fish in the photo? Today's trivia: Japan consumes 10% of the world's fish catch. Once coral soup takes off it may become 11%.
NuckinFutz at 09:11 AM JST - 18th June

So in the name of research are they going to slice it in half to look at the growth rings? It took 400 tears to grow to the size it is now and it's still growing. The statement about the coral colonies on the ball "have mostly died except for those on its surface" is stupid! This is how coral colonies grow! Nobody would expect the inside of the ball to be alive! All coral reefs are layers upon layers of old coral with new layers constantly being added.
gogogo at 10:08 AM JST - 18th June

Do they have to kill it to measure those things? I certainly hope not.
Noripinhead at 11:12 AM JST - 18th June

Coral ball. Is that like where the Little Mermaid dances?
Xinef at 11:38 AM JST - 18th June

Do you realize that the "inside" of such ball is mere calcium carbonate: basically rock.

1- Japanese people do NOT eat rock as far as I know...

2- You do not need to slice in half a rock to analyze its layers, a simple and small core sample (like the ones taken in the polar ice) is enough.

3- The point they are trying to prove is that corals are disappearing, not because of research, but because all the greenhouse gases released by the industry building your daily comfort has been influencing oceans temperatures way beyond their tolerance level.
scoobydoo at 12:36 PM JST - 18th June

Yeah thats right, they are going to rip open the coral ball and look at its internal organs, rip out its heart and lungs, mince its liver and test every thing. OOhhhh Ahhh, its all just dead coral skeletons on the inside and we don't have to kill it after all. How about that.
saborichan at 01:02 PM JST - 18th June

Best coralist?
Altria at 01:16 PM JST - 18th June

Looks like a rock to me.
nandakandamanda at 01:26 PM JST - 18th June

Xinef: 3- The point they are trying to prove is that corals are disappearing, not because of research, but because all the greenhouse gases released by the industry building your daily comfort has been influencing oceans temperatures way beyond their tolerance level.

Well, it could be said that the sun has been warming up the oceans over the last few hundred years and the amount of carbon dioxide being released from them is still on the increase. Human activity has probably contributed to this.
stirfry at 02:59 PM JST - 18th June

thats the japanese way: kill it to study it....witness whales, dolphins, coral, natural-growth forests...maybe one day japan will actually be as advanced as people think, but i doubt it
fatfrenchfool at 11:33 PM JST - 18th June

thats the japanese way: kill it to study it....witness whales, dolphins, coral, natural-growth forests...maybe one day japan will actually be as advanced as people think, but i doubt it

silly and ignorant
sharky1 at 06:08 AM JST - 19th June

I know that Japan is very serious about it's coral. There are aquaculture labs set up all over Japan to grow coral and then reseed the coral beds with farmed coral. Only about one-third of reseeded coral survives, but it is better than nothing.