Volunteer group Citizens of the Reef made the find as part of the Great Reef Census
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Citizen scientists have discovered what they believe is one of the largest coral colonies ever documented on the Great Barrier Reef.
The coral spans approximately 111 metres in maximum length and covers an estimated area of 3,973 sq m – about half the size of a soccer field.
Continue reading...Climate crisis drives near-total collapse of staghorn and elkhorn corals that formed backbone to state’s reefs
Two of the most important coral species that made up Florida’s reef are now functionally extinct after a withering ocean heatwave caused catastrophic losses, scientists have found.
The near-total collapse of the corals that once formed the backbone of reefs in Florida and the Caribbean means they can no longer play their previously crucial role in building and sustaining reef ecosystems that host a variety of marine life.
Continue reading...Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns
The earth has reached its first catastrophic tipping point linked to greenhouse gas emissions, with warm water coral reefs now facing a long-term decline and risking the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people, according to a new report.
The report from scientists and conservationists warns the world is also “on the brink” of reaching other tipping points, including the dieback of the Amazon, the collapse of major ocean currents and the loss of ice sheets.
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Continue reading...Scientists shocked by bleaching event that hit reefs from the world heritage-listed Ningaloo to the remote Ashmore Reef
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The “longest, largest and most intense” marine heatwave ever recorded in Western Australia has killed coral throughout an area that stretches 1,500km, according to state and federal scientists.
More than 100 scientists and marine managers will gather in Perth on Tuesday for a special meeting to discuss the devastating event that bleached and killed corals on remote reefs earlier this year.
The marine heatwave that hit reefs from the world heritage-listed Ningaloo to the remote Ashmore Reef left many scientists shocked.
Continue reading...Researchers warn reef may reach tipping point where coral cannot recover fast enough between major catastrophic events
The Great Barrier Reef has suffered its biggest annual drop in live coral in two out of three areas monitored by scientists since 1986, a new report has revealed.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) report is the first to comprehensively document the devastating impacts of the early 2024 mass coral bleaching event – the most widespread and severe on record for the Great Barrier Reef.
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Continue reading...An ashen pallor and an eerie stillness all that remains where there should fluttering fish and vibrant colours in the reefscape, one conservationist says
The world’s coral reefs have been pushed into “uncharted territory” by the worst global bleaching event on record that has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs, scientists have warned.
Reefs in at least 82 countries and territories have been exposed to enough heat to turn corals white since the global event started in January 2023, the latest data from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch shows.
Continue reading...Consecutive and severe bleaching is ‘fundamentally changing’ nature of reef, the International Coral Reef Society says
The Great Barrier Reef was hit by a sixth widespread coral bleaching event since 2016 this summer – the second time the world’s biggest coral reef has seen the phenomenon strike in back-to-back years – according to government authorities.
Scientists and conservationists reacted with dismay that widespread bleaching – driven by global heating – was becoming normalised, with one saying Australia’s next term of government may be the natural wonder’s last shot at survival.
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Continue reading...Scientists say widespread damage to both world heritage-listed reefs is ‘heartbreaking’ as WA reef accumulates highest amount of heat stress on record
Australia’s two world heritage-listed reefs – Ningaloo on the west coast and the Great Barrier Reef on the east – have been hit simultaneously by coral bleaching that reef experts have called “heartbreaking” and “a profoundly distressing moment”.
Teams of scientists on both coasts have been monitoring and tracking the heat stress and bleaching extending across thousands of kilometres of marine habitat, which is likely to have been driven by global heating.
Continue reading...More than 40% of individual corals monitored around One Tree Island reef bleached by heat stress and damaged by flesh-eating disease
More than 40% of individual corals monitored around a Great Barrier Reef island were killed last year in the most widespread coral bleaching outbreak to hit the reef system, a study has found.
Scientists tracked 462 colonies of corals at One Tree Island in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef after heat stress began to turn the corals white in early 2024. Researchers said they encountered “catastrophic” scenes at the reef.
Continue reading...Environmentalists say marine park waste regulations need updating to limit grey water and exhaust chemicals as passenger cruise numbers rise
Environmentalists and tourism operators on the Great Barrier Reef say authorities must enforce stricter pollution standards on cruise liners visiting the world heritage area amid growth in passenger cruise numbers and concern that ships are dumping toxins into the water.
The Whitsunday Conservation Council says the definition of “waste” used to prevent marine discharge on the reef – which dates back to the 1970s – does not restrict discharge from sulphur “scrubbers” that have become commonplace in the shipping industry.
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Continue reading...Analysis of high-resolution drone imagery concludes 97% of corals died at a Lizard Island reef between March and June this year
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.
Continue reading...Reef escapes being classed ‘in danger’ for now but the government must submit a progress report to World Heritage committee by February
Unesco has urged Australia to set more ambitious climate targets for the Great Barrier Reef in a list of recommendations to preserve its status as a world heritage site.
The report, published in Paris late on Monday, did not recommend the reef be placed on a list of sites “in danger” – a threat that has hung over the reef for years – when the 21-country world heritage committee meets next month.
Continue reading...A three-year study found that the spiny lobsters’ urine scared off predatory worms and snails who snack on the delicate organisms
An unexpected champion has emerged in the increasingly grave battle to save Florida’s imperiled coral reefs: spiny lobsters that urinate in the water and scare off predatory worms and snails seeking to feast on the delicate organisms.
The finding is one of the more bizarre conclusions of a three-year study by scientists from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC), who are also warning it may already be too late for some species of coral to survive without significant human assistance.
Continue reading...Floods, cyclones, heat stress and predatory starfish contributing to impacts as fourth planet-wide bleaching event confirmed
The Great Barrier Reef is in the midst of what could be its worst summer on record with a widespread and extreme coral bleaching event coming on top of floods, two cyclones and outbreaks of coral-eating starfish, according to an official Australian government report.
The “summer snapshot” report released by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Australian Institute of Marine Science said: “Compared [with] previous summers, cumulative impacts have been much higher this summer and a widespread bleaching event is still unfolding.”
Continue reading...The percentage of reef areas experiencing bleaching-level heat stress is increasing by about 1% a week, scientists say
Global heating has pushed the world’s coral reefs to a fourth planet-wide mass bleaching event that is on track to be the most extensive on record, US government scientists have confirmed.
Some 54% of ocean waters containing coral reefs have experienced heat stress high enough to cause bleaching, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Watch said.
Continue reading...Discovery was made after First Nations tipped off ecologists about groups of fish gathering in a fjord off British Columbia
Deep in the hostile waters off Canada’s west coast, in a narrow channel surrounded by fjords, lies a coral reef that scientists believe “shouldn’t exist”. The reef is the northernmost ever discovered in the Pacific Ocean and offers researchers a new glimpse into the resilience – and unpredictability – of the deep-sea ecosystems.
For generations, members of the Kitasoo Xai’xais and Heiltsuk First Nations, two communities off the Central Coast region of British Columbia, had noticed large groups of rockfish congregating in a fjord system.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Fears coral bleaching moving south to Lord Howe, Norfolk islands after southern Great Barrier Reef experiences worst heat stress since 1985
Scientists fear excessive ocean heat – which is bleaching corals in parts of the Great Barrier Reef – is now hitting the world’s most southern coral reef at the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe island.
There are also concerns ocean temperatures are reaching dangerous levels for corals at Australia’s remote Norfolk Island, which is about 1400km east of Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Continue reading...Three new levels added by US Coral Reef Watch after ‘extreme’ unprecedented heat, with highest alert warning of ‘near complete mortality’
The world’s main system for warning about heat stress on the planet’s coral reefs has been forced to add three new alert categories to represent ever-increasing temperature extremes.
The changes introduced by the US government’s Coral Reef Watch program come after reefs across the Americas were hit by unprecedented levels of heat stress last year that bleached and killed corals en masse.
Continue reading...Strong waves and sediment-laden freshwater pushed out from river catchments may have damaged parts of reef system, experts say
Back-to-back cyclones crossing the Great Barrier Reef have experts concerned vast flood plumes and heavy waves may have damaged parts of the world’s biggest coral reef system.
Reef scientists and conservationists went into the summer worried that an El Niño weather pattern would elevate the risk of mass coral bleaching.
Continue reading...Fate of more than a dozen islands ‘hangs in the balance’ because of climate crisis, with vexed questions about maritime jurisdiction
More than a dozen of Australia’s coral islands that help to extend the country’s maritime jurisdiction are at high risk of disappearing because of climate change, according to a study.
The fate of the low-lying islands now “hangs in the balance”, said the scientist who led the study, with rising sea levels, marine heatwaves, intensifying weather systems and ocean acidification compounding the risk.
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