Barrier Reef hit by coral bleaching
Print Edition
SCIENTISTS warned coral bleaching was occurring on the Great Barrier Reef as sea temperatures warm, and it could rapidly accelerate unless cooler conditions blow in over the next few weeks.
Authorities cautioned last year that the world faced a mass global coral bleaching event driven by the warming effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said it was a growing concern.
“Current reports of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef do not equate to a mass bleaching event,” said the centre’s director Terry Hughes. “But we are concerned about a growing incidence of minor to moderate bleaching at multiple locations along the reef as the peak of summer approaches.”
Bleaching is a phenomenon that turns corals white or fades their colors, threatening a valuable source of biodiversity, tourism and fishing. It occurs when reef symbiosis — the mutually beneficial relationship between two organisms that inhabit corals — is disrupted by a rise in ocean warming, although there can also be other causes.
“The latest Bureau of Meteorology forecasts suggest that we could see significant above average temperatures through the month of March, which may mean more bleaching ahead for corals on the Great Barrier Reef unless we get some windy and cloudy weather soon,” Janice Lough, senior research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said.
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