Coordinates: -25.8829486505056, 113.90591540490992The crystal-clear waters of Shark Bay are home to the world's largest plant: a seagrass meadow spanning 77 square miles and stretching 112 miles from end to end. The shoots that make up the massive meadow all originate from one stem, which researchers estimate is at least 4,500 years old.
Related: 2 plants randomly mated up to 1 million years ago to give rise to one of the world's most popular drinks Largest known plant on earth discovered in Shark Bay - YouTube Watch On This means the Shark Bay seagrass dwarfs the previous record-holder: The second-largest clone on record is a 9-mile-long meadow of Posidonia oceanica seagrass in the western Mediterranean Sea.
The meadow at Shark Bay is expanding through a process known as"horizontal rhizome extension," in which the plant grows stems that extend horizontally beneath the seafloor. These stems then grow vertical stems that develop shoots and leaves, which break through the sand to form seagrass.