Working on boats which visit the Great Barrier Reef daily, I often meet tourists with the opinion that the reef is dead. This is unfortunately due to the media in their home country twisting information about the reef bleaching events and water temperatures rising to the point that they are claiming the entire great barrier reef is dead. This is simply not true.
Yes the reef did suffer major bleaching events in the summers of 2016 and 2017. However not all of the coral was affected, let alone died. In fact now, 3 years later, many of the areas of the reef which were effected are beginning to recover.
Yes water temperatures are beginning to rise but at the moment it is only affecting the very top of the reef and only certain coral species. There is lots of research happening at the moment to help corals and the reef deal with these temperature changes.
This is just the first in a series of blogs which I plan to write on this subject, where I will document the state of the reefs that I visit regularly, visit new sites to check the quality of the coral there, and interview some of the marine biologists working on coral research and restoration projects.
All of the photos in this blog have been taken at the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs, (a small stretch of the Great Barrier Reef) between 2017 and present day. Do they look dead to you?
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Please also check out My reaction to the Australian Bushfires.
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