Big Momma
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Big Momma is a massive Porites coral colony that lives in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa on the west side of Ta’u, American Samoa, in an area called the Valley of Giants. Big Momma is the largest of several massive Porites in that area, and until...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Some of the more than 50 off-island delegates to the 40th Meeting of the US Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) traveled to Manu’a over the weekend for diving to witness the world’s largest coral head in waters off Ta’u island as well as blue coral in waters off Ofu Island....

![The newly documented massive Porites measures about 73 feet across, 26 feet in height, and 226 feet in circumference at its base. It is located on the east side of the island of Ta’u, away from Big Momma, which before this discovery, was considered the largest coral found in American Samoa, and possibly the world. There’s a saying that goes “everything is bigger in Samoa.” This may be a sweeping statement, but when it comes to corals, it’s true that the waters surrounding Ta’u island in American Samoa are home to some of the largest known corals in the world. [photo: Mareike Sudek - NOAA] Newly documented massive Porites](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/first_photo_of_massive_porites.jpg?itok=mMaoayWR)
![[photo: NOAA office of Natonal Marine Sanctuary] Big Momma coral reef](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/pano_americansamoa_bigmomma-web.jpg?itok=RL1waXJo)