Great Barrier grief with worst bleaching recorded
The Great Barrier Reef has experienced “probably the most intense and widespread bleaching event recorded to date”, head of the reef’s aerial monitoring program has confirmed. The latest snapshot
report, released on Wednesday morning, found a range of stressors on the Great Barrier Reef over what reef experts said was the “worst summer on record”, with elevated water temperatures, two tropical cyclones, extreme rainfall events in December, January, February and March, and outbreaks of the Crown of Thorns Starfish. The snapshot found:
■ Evidence of bleaching on 73 per cent of reefs surveyed;
■ “Very high” levels of bleaching (between 61-90 per cent of coral affected) in 31 per cent of reefs surveyed; – evidence of “extreme” levels of bleaching (more than 90 per cent of coral affected) in 8 per cent of reefs surveyed.
Researchers monitored 1080 individual reefs from the air, over 10 clear days with low wind and low wave activity, starting towards the end of summer.
Dr Neal Cantin from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), who led the aerial survey work, said: “This is probably going to be the most intense and widespread bleaching event recorded to date. This event we’re seeing high levels of bleaching in all three regions of the marine park, from Lady Elliot Island all the way to Princess Charlotte Bay.”
In the official research paper, Dr Cantin and his team said that the corals were experiencing “the highest levels of thermal stress on record”.
The snapshot, by AIMS, along with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and CSIRO), synthesises observations made by researchers every week during the summer season.
Despite the widespread bleaching, Dr Cantin said there were still healthy corals to be found.
“The Barrier Reef is a very large ecosystem, and there are locations that are less bleached and that won’t have mortality from this event,” he said.
The reef authority confirmed the reef was undergoing a mass bleaching event on March 8.