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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/22/tim-winton-labor-ningaloo-reef-bleaching-nature-climate-laws-ntwnfb>
"Late last spring, I was part of an expedition to Scott Reef, a magnificent
coral atoll nearly 300 kilometres off the Kimberley coast. And while it was a
privilege to be in such a remote and wonderful place, watching rare and endemic
sea life drifting past, the moment I tipped from the boat in my mask and fins,
I knew something was wrong.
The water was too hot. Not tropical warm, but uncomfortably hot.
Our first dive was over a coral garden at the crest of a sea mount. But I
struggled to concentrate on what I was seeing, because of an uncanny,
skin-crawling sensation that came over me at the surface. When I took a breath
and got down past 8 metres, the unpleasantness receded a little, but on the way
back up it overtook me like the shimmery, woozy feeling you get before you
faint.
“Is it just me,” I asked marine ecologist Dr Ben Fitzpatrick as we climbed back
into the dinghy, “or is this water super hot?”
The veteran marine scientist pointed to the boat’s sonar unit. The reading it
gave was 35C."
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
