<
https://theconversation.com/new-drone-imagery-reveals-97-of-coral-dead-at-a-lizard-island-reef-after-last-summers-mass-bleaching-233325>
"Last summer, the Great Barrier Reef suffered its worst mass coral bleaching
event. Our new data show the devastating damage the bleaching caused to a reef
at Lizard Island – a finding that does not bode well for the rest of the
natural wonder.
A colleague collected drone imagery from Lizard Island’s North Point Reef in
March this year, and we replicated his image collection this month. The results
show more than 97% of bleached corals on North Point Reef are now dead.
This is the first quantitative assessment of coral mortality from the last mass
bleaching event. We don’t know how much coral died beyond this reef. But we do
know that, according to other aerial surveys, almost one-third of the Great
Barrier Reef experienced “very high” and “extreme” levels of coral bleaching
last summer.
Clearly, if Australia wants to maintain the world-heritage status of the Great
Barrier Reef – indeed, if it wants to preserve the reef at all – we must act
now to prevent more coral deaths."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
