93 per cent of Great Barrier Reef hit by coral bleaching
A comprehensive, aerial and underwater survey of the Great Barrier Reef has suggested that 93 percent of the World Heritage site has been affected by coral bleaching.
A review of more than 900 individual reefs showed the severe bleaching had occurred in the northern section of the reef, stretching 1,000 kilometres north of Port Douglas.
Professor Terry Hughes from the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce told ABC News, "We've never seen bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef of that severity and when bleaching is that strong it affects virtually all coral species. We expect the central and southern corals to regain their colour and recover over the next few months.”
"The southern third of the Great Barrier Reef fortunately cooled down late in summer due to ex-cyclone Winston. The 2016 footprint could have been much worse.
"In 1998 and 2002, 40 per cent of the reefs had no bleaching — it's only 7 per cent this time," he said. We also know in 1998 and 2002 about 18 per cent of the reefs were severely bleaching — this time it's over half.”
"So by those metrics this bleaching event is three or four times more severe."
The aerial survey, which began last month, covered 911 individual reefs and found that only 68 had escape bleaching entirely. Of those that had been bleached, more than half had been severely bleached.
If a coral remains bleached for an extended period it is likely to die, and Mr Hughes expects a mortality rate as high as 50 per cent in some parts of the reef.
Professor Andrew Baird, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, spent over two weeks at sea recording the bleaching, and told ABC News, "Tragically, the northern section is the most remote part of the reef, and its remoteness has protected it from most human pressures but not climate change. North of Port Douglas, we're already measuring an average of close to 50 per cent mortality of bleached corals."
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