‘Zero recovery’ for Great Barrier Reef corals in back-to-back bleaching

An aerial view of bleaching in the Cairns-Townsville region of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef AFP/Ed ROBERTS

 

Researchers said last month they were detecting another round of mass bleaching this year after a severe event in 2016, and their fears were confirmed after aerial surveys of the entire 2,300km long bio-diverse reef.

Last year, the northern areas of the World Heritage-listed reef were hardest hit, with the middle-third now experiencing the worst effects.

“Bleached corals are not necessarily dead corals, but in the severe central region we anticipate high levels of coral loss,” said James Kerry, a marine biologist at James Cook University.