Research divers survey coral bleaching on a reef off Port Douglas showing extensive bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef recorded in March 2016. Image: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies / Cassandra Thompson
CAIRNS, Australia
“This has been the saddest research trip of my life,” says Prof. Terry Hughes, convenor of the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce. “Almost without exception, every reef we flew across showed consistently high levels of bleaching, from the reef slope right up onto the top of the reef. We flew for 4000km in the most pristine parts of the Great Barrier Reef and saw only four reefs that had no bleaching. The severity is much greater than in earlier bleaching events in 2002 or 1998.”
Prof. Terry Hughes: “Saddest research trip of my life.”
Aerial surveys of more than 500 coral reefs from Cairns to Papua New Guinea reveal that the most pristine section of the Great Barrier Reef is currently experiencing the worst, mass bleaching event in its history, with the overwhelming majority of reefs being ranked in the most severe bleaching category.
Prof. Hughes continues: “Even more concerning, we haven’t yet found the southern limit of the bleaching.We’ll be conducting further aerial surveys this week in the central Great Barrier Reef to identify where it stops. Thankfully, the southern Reef has dodged a bullet due to cloudy weather that cooled the water temperatures down.”
Multiple research vessels and island research stations are also documenting the coral bleaching, with in-water research confirming what is clearly seen from the air, that the majority of reefs north of Cairns are undergoing bleaching and that virtually all species of corals are being affected.
Editor: A sustained El Niño event has kept water temperatures elevated in some areas for extended periods. From a March normal of 82ºF (27.7ºC), sustained heat/cloud/and wind conditions have the waters of the GBR 7ºF higher than usual—a lethal 89ºF or 31.7ºC.
60% Bleaching in Some Surveys
Underwater surveys show that the reef is more than 60% bleached, matching the extent of bleaching detected by aerial surveys. Image: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies / Cassandra Thompson.
“We could see extensive bleaching even among the most robust ‘massive’ corals,” says James Kerry, Project Manager of the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, who also participated in the aerial surveys. “The fact that these hardy species have also turned white shows just how severe summer conditions have become on the northern GBR.
“Residents we spoke to in Cape York were shocked by what they are seeing, telling us that they had never experienced anything like this before.”
Aerial photography taken by the research group shows extensive bleaching, with white skeletons of stony corals widespread on hundreds of reef areas.
“Scientists in the water are already reporting up to 50% mortality of bleached corals,” says Prof. Hughes, “but it’s still too early to tell just what the overall outcome will be. We will continue to conduct underwater surveys along the Great Barrier Reef in the coming months as the full impact of this mass bleaching event unfolds.”
Credits
From materials released by:
Prof Terry Hughes
Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University
Resources
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-03-worst-great-barrier-reef-scientists.html#jCp
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6283/338
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/coral-bleaching-taskforce-documents-most-severe-bleaching-on-record
