Giant object spotted in ocean floating towards Australia
A mass of volcanic rubble has been spotted drifting through the Pacific Ocean heading our way.
And scientists say the “pumice” will help boost the Great Barrier Reef’s ecosystem as it floats towards Australia –– by bringing new life.
Australian couple Michael Hoult and Larissa Brill encountered the "total rock rubble slick" reportedly stretching over 150 square km, while sailing their catamaran to Fiji.
“The waves were knocked back to almost calm and the boat was slowed to 1kt,” the pair shared on Facebook, according to the ABC.
Known as a pumice raft, the lightweight, bubble-rich floating rock is so big it can be tracked via satellite. The mass is usually formed when magma is cooled rapidly.
Geologists are saying the rock likely came from an underwater volcano near Tonga, which erupted around August 7 according to satellite images.
Mr Hoult and Ms Brill have since sent samples of the pumice raft to researchers at the Queensland University of Technology.
Volcanic rubble to help Great Barrier Reef
QUT geologist, Associate Professor Scott Bryan, told the ABC the volcanic rock would help boost our ecosystem through the spread of organisms.
As the raft drifts towards our coast over the next seven to 12 months, marine life will “hitch a ride” to our shores, he said.
“When it gets here, [the pumice raft will be] covered in a whole range of organisms of algae and barnacles and corals and crabs and snails and worms,” he said.
“This is a way for healthy, young corals to be rapidly introduced to the Great Barrier Reef.”
Half of the coral in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef is now dead after two heat waves.
The pumice is currently drifting westwards from Tonga towards Fiji. Scientists say the mass is likely to travel past New Caledonia and Vanuatu before reaching Australia within a year’s time.
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