‘Most of it was dead’: scientists discover one of Great Barrier Reef’s worst coral bleaching events

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:23:46 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/26/most-of-it-was-dead-scientists-discovers-one-of-great-barrier-reefs-worst-coral-bleaching-events>

"At least 97% of corals on a reef in the Great Barrier Reef’s north died during
one of the worst coral bleaching events the world’s biggest reef system has
ever seen, according to new analysis.

Scientists at several institutions used high-resolution drone imagery to track
the bleaching and death of corals on a reef at Lizard Island.

It comes as Unesco urged the federal government to publicly release data “as
soon as possible” on how much coral died during last summer’s mass bleaching.

The analysis is understood to be the first attempt to quantify the extent of
coral death over a reef affected by this summer’s mass bleaching – the fifth in
eight years – that saw heat stress hit record levels across some parts of the
world heritage-listed reef.

“I was horrified,” said Macquarie University marine biologist Prof Jane
Williamson, who worked with colleagues to analyse the mass coral death at
Lizard Island’s North Point reef."

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

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