In a remarkable display of “people power,” a mother-daughter team of citizen scientists — Jan Pope, a veteran diver with 35 years of experience, and her daughter Sophie Kalkowski-Pope, who serves as the marine operations coordinator for the conservation group Citizens of the Reef — has identified what researchers believe is the world’s largest documented coral colony.

The massive structure, a single colony of Pavona clavus, commonly called “elephant skin” coral because of its wrinkled, plate-like texture, was found on the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Queensland. It stretches about 364 feet long, covering more than 4000 square meters.