Somewhere around the turn of the 16th century, as the first European ships crossed the Atlantic, a single coral polyp settled on a reef slope in what we now know as the St John’s area of the Egyptian Red Sea. Over centuries, it built a stronghold — one tiny layer at a time — enduring tides, storms, and the slow heartbeat of the ocean. Today, this massive Porites coral remains, its immense form dwarfing a passing diver and speaking silently of centuries past.

Hovering weightless before it, I was reminded of the ancient redwood and sequoia trees of the American West — where giant cross-sections of trunks are often displayed, with historic moments marked along their rings: the signing of the Magna Carta, the fall of Constantinople, the first steps on the Moon. In much the same way, this coral carries the invisible imprint of centuries. If we could slice it open (and thankfully we cannot), we would find a living timeline of the ocean’s memory, built slowly, patiently, year after year.

This photograph was made during a dive expedition aboard the outstanding Royal Evolution, using an OM System OM-1 Mark II, a Nauticam housing, the Olympus 8mm fisheye lens — a favourite for its ability to capture the curvature of the reef — and twin Retra Prime strobes to reveal the coral’s texture and form.

The Red Sea, long considered one of the more resilient reef systems, has not been spared the effects of a warming climate. The past two summers brought severe marine heatwaves, resulting in extensive coral bleaching across Egypt’s reefs. However, encouragingly, Porites species have demonstrated remarkable endurance: a recent review (icriforum.org) reports that nearly 80% of bleached Porites colonies recovered fully within months.

To encounter a coral that has lived through half a millennium of change is a reminder not only of nature’s quiet strength, but also of its increasing vulnerability. These living monuments deserve more than admiration; they demand our protection.

(Photographed in the St John’s area, Egyptian Red Sea, 2025.)