Big Momma

August 2017

In the depths of National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa lives Big Momma, one of the largest coral heads in the world. What will you and your community do to help protect amazing corals like this one?

Transcripts

This is Big Momma.

She is the largest known coral head in the world.

Big Momma is over 500 years old, in part due to her incredible resilience.

In fact, the coral reefs in her home of American Samoa are unusually resilient.

They survived invasive species, hurricanes, and severely low tides that would threaten many other reefs.

But this coral and the reef it lives in could be in jeopardy.

While corals here weathered short-term events, long-term ocean acidification could be fatal.

As the ocean absorbs excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the pH of the water can lead to coral bleaching and death.

Hopefully divers will be able to visit Big Momma for years to come.