North GBR - 97% Of Lizard Island Coral Reefs Confirmed Dead; It Took Just 3 Months Of Record Heat

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.

It comes as Unesco urged the federal government to publicly release data “as soon as possible” on how much coral died during last summer’s mass bleaching. The analysis is understood to be the first attempt to quantify the extent of coral death over a reef affected by this summer’s mass bleaching – the fifth in eight years – that saw heat stress hit record levels across some parts of the world heritage-listed reef. “I was horrified,” said Macquarie University marine biologist Prof Jane Williamson, who worked with colleagues to analyse the mass coral death at Lizard Island’s North Point reef.

On Tuesday the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, declared a “huge win” for Australia after Unesco said it would not recommend the world heritage committee put the reef on its list of sites “in danger” when it meets at the end of July in India. But Unesco urged the government to improve its climate targets and reduce land clearing, saying the full extent of the damage from this summer’s bleaching, including the number of corals that perished, was not yet known.

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Flying a drone over the same section of reef earlier this month to match the images, Williamson said: “At least 97% of the corals had died over those three months. “We were there to do our sea cucumber monitoring work, but there was silence amongst us nine researchers. “We came out of the water and didn’t know what to say. It’s an iconic reef and most of it was dead.” A/Prof Karen Joyce, of James Cook University, said she had been mapping coral for 25 years. “It’s devastating to say that this year, my job became so much easier. In the small area we analysed, instead of many thousand live corals, I can count the few remaining on my fingers.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/26/most-of-it-was-dead-scientists-discovers-one-of-great-barrier-reefs-worst-coral-bleaching-events