For the first time in recorded history, a mass coral bleaching event in the Great Barrier Reef is occurring during the usually cooler weathers of a La Nina year.
This serious event also happens to coincide with a ten-day delegation of two Unesco scientists who will be collecting evidence that will help decide whether to classify the reef “in danger.”
The Great Barrier Reef has seen six mass bleaching events and this will be the fourth in six years.
Chief Scientist of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Dr David Wachenfield said that the thermal stress has accumulated across the reef, with the worst affected area being the central one.
Aerial surveys by the Marine Park Authority are occurring this week over the major tourism areas, but Dr Wachenfield said the stress was less in these areas.
"The majority of reefs surveyed from Hinchinbrook to Bowen were severely bleached, with some mortality observed at some of these reefs,” Dr Wachenfield said.
"These thermal anomalies have worsened since the start of March, which is counter to what we would normally expect in a typical March.”
Spokesperson for the Whitsunday Conservation Council (WCC), Tony Fontes, said that a change of reefs world status to ‘In Danger’ would only serve to help.
“The Reef is in danger. No amount of government spin can change that. Recognising that the Reef is in danger is the best way to protect the reef,” he said.
“Global warming, fuelled by the burning of fossil fuels, has caught up to us.”
Bleached coral
