Marine scientists say one area around Cooktown and Lizard Island had lost more than a third of its live hard coral after bleaching event
Marine scientists say there have been ‘substantial losses’ of coral cover after extreme weather at the northern Great Great Barrier Reef.Marine scientists say there have been ‘substantial losses’ of coral cover after extreme weather at the northern Great Great Barrier Reef.have seen “substantial losses” of coral cover after a summer of extreme heat, two cyclones and major flooding, according to the first results of surveys from government marine scientists.
“It was pretty sobering,” he said. “Probably the worst single impact I have seen in 30 years. We saw dead standing coral colonies and the whole scene was a drab brown mess. As far as the eye could see was corals covered in algae.”The results are the first official assessment of the impact of last summer’s mass coral bleaching event, which came during a fourth global event that saw heat stress high enough to bleach more than 70% of the planet’s corals, affecting reefs in more than 70 countries.
The greatest heat stress last summer was seen in the reef’s southern section where scientists were on Tuesday returning from initial surveys. He said some coral species appeared to have fared much better than others, and data so far suggested reefs on the outer shelf were much less affected. Most reefs now have moderate levels of coral cover of between 10% and 30%.
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