Great Barrier Reef Biology

Local management of runoff, coral predators and fishing intensity could have helped with reef health up until now, but is no match for climate-induced heatwaves that everyone knows are going to get worse and worse.

We have had 5 years of La Niña cool weather pattern during which global warming has simply continued. Now the swing back to El Niño hot weather patterns is seeing a global spike in weather disasters, including mass bleaching in the northern hemisphere.

The winter in northern Australia was mild to absent, the water is already warming when it should be at its coldest. Without a perfect timing low pressure system/cyclone at peak heat week this summer, there will be a catastrophic mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.

Only the strongest and fastest possible action on climate change will reduce the risks and limit the impacts of climate change on the reef.

Controlling pollution and overfishing can help protect coral reefs — but it’s not enough Local management of runoff and fishing intensity bolsters reef health but is no match for climate-induced heatwaves.

There is little to be said anymore. For decades science has screamed that we cannot continue growing our numbers and our consumption without horrific consequences - climate change being just one symptom of those two driving causes of global chaos. Now, from the off-the-chart North Atlantic warming to the never before seen ice melt in the Antarctic at this time of year, and all over the world, it seems a tipping point may have been reached. And here in the Pacific, after several years of milder La Nina weather, the El Niño cycle has returned to an already much warmer and possibly tipping ocean, which will, in the absence of a miraculous cooling weather event at exactly the right moment, drive a super-mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.

Whale season on the Great Barrier Reef.

Humpback Whale Eye on the Reef - Sighting by OceanRafting on Tuesday, 30 May 2023 12:23 PM AEST

It is that time of year again!

Dwarf Minke Whale Eye on the Reef - Sighting by oneillk on Saturday, 27 May 2023 1:35 PM AEST

Baby Dugongs in the Great Barrier Reef sea-grass meadows!

Dugong Eye on the Reef - Sighting by OceanRafting on Sunday, 4 December 2022 9:28 AM AEST

Highest sea surface temperature on Reef for the early summer, ever recorded, including the previous mass bleaching events.

https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/data/vs/ts_figures/ts_multi_year/vs_ts_multiyr_gbr_far_northern.png

Coral Spawning 2022 on the Great Barrier Reef has begun!

Coral Spawn Eye on the Reef - Sighting by Wavelength Reef Cruises on Thursday, 10 November 2022 6:23 AM AEST

First things first, know what you are talking about. Well done people.

Recently, three of our Biologists spent the day out on the Reef doing Eye on The Reef Training with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 👏

Tess, Brittany and Cailtin became official surveyors for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, completing training in conducting Tourism Weekly Surveys. These surveys look for key indicator species and health impacts on the reef and allow Tourism Operators, like us and the GBRMPA to understand our sites intimately providing insight on how to best manage the reef!

Tourism Weekly Surveys are one of our regular site stewardship activities at GBR Biology and it was great to be a part of this training event with crew from 15 other operators and Traditional Owners, sharing our love of the Great Barrier Reef 💦

https://zenodo.org/record/7047049?fbclid=IwAR2_SYJ5UBi5RUJjLkwzvWK3W1zVKFkjzvTlobk4TSf9A3-xMmd_OXwadkY #.YxZE0C-caYU

zenodo.org

“Coral cover” is just one measure of coral reef ‘health’ and much like fires turning ancient forest into think scrub or dense grass land, frequent disturbances of coral sees boom-bust of weedy Acropora branch and plate types. Do not be distracted by this away from the emergency climate action required to save coral reefs in all their biodiverse wonder in the rapidly approaching future.

Record coral cover doesn't necessarily mean the Great Barrier Reef is in good health (despite what you may have heard) New data shows coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef is at a record high, despite a disturbing decade of marine heatwaves, cyclones and floods. While the data is robust, it can be deceptive.

The manta rays are going off all around the Whitsundays at the moment.

Manta Ray Eye on the Reef - Sighting by JShark on Monday, 25 July 2022 12:48 PM AEST

Scientists: ”Ready when you are”
Once again analysis shows we should switch to renewables now which would also generate tens of thousands of jobs. The Australian people just need to decide they want to.

Renewables remain cheapest, but cost reductions on hold GenCost

First Dwarf minke whale of 2022 !

Dwarf Minke Whale Eye on the Reef - Sighting by barrym on Saturday, 14 May 2022 8:09 AM AEST

The dozen biggest oil companies are on track to spend $103m a day for the rest of the decade exploiting new fields of oil and gas that cannot be burned if global heating is to be limited to well under 2C. Note: Heating to 1.5C means the end of the Reef.

Revealed: the ‘carbon bombs’ set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown Exclusive: Oil and gas majors are planning scores of vast projects that threaten to shatter the 1.5C climate goal. If governments do not act, these firms will continue to cash in as the world burns

Map summary of the 2022 Aerial Survey observations of coral bleaching throughout the Great Barrier Reef in the latest mass bleaching event due to human driven global warming . Details here: https://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/the-reef/reef-health

There is no "resilient" coral reefs - that's marketing.
There are just reefs that are lucky so far, having not yet been cooked. "Climate change will overwhelm current local-scale refugia, with declines in global thermal refugia from 84% of global coral reef pixels in the present-day climate to 0.2% at 1.5˚C, and 0% at 2.0˚C of global warming."
If we want a Great Barrier Reef, we need to scream for global emergency action immediately at extraordinary rates of action.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000004

Observation data from low altitude flights is already showing widespread coral bleaching in the north of the Reef for 2022. The photos and videos can be viewed by anyone in the world and the videos have audio of the scientists ranking the bleaching being seen.

Coral Bleaching Map – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Understanding of the links between coral reef ecosystems, the goods and services they provide to people, and the wellbeing of human societies.

Nature Based Solutions to climate change are not actually "solutions" to climate change - they are very useful and necessary changes with game-changing benefits but the solution to human-caused global warming is ending fossil fuel burning by humans as fast as possible.
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/nature-based-solutions-global-climate-protection

Massive review of a much ignored group of reef fish, finally revealing the true importance of Surgeon Fish to coral reef health. Probably even more important than parrotfish.

The functional roles of surgeonfishes on coral reefs: past, present and future - Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Surgeonfishes have had a long evolutionary history that has been closely linked with coral reef ecosystems. Today they are a key component of reef fish assemblages, playing a pivotal role in a variety of ecosystem functions. However, coral reefs are at the forefront of environmental change with a su...

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/sightings-network/sighting/40460
Records show this is only the third time a whale shark has been found within such close proximity to shore. The previous observation was only a few weeks ago. Not enough observations to say this is a pattern but two in a row so close to shore is interesting.

Whale Shark Eye on the Reef - Sighting by JHolden on Monday, 3 January 2022 9:35 AM AEST

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/sightings-network/sighting/40346

Summer months is the most common time of year to see Whale sharks on the Reef. However few people take the time to report where and when they see this CITES listed endangered species. Likely there is much we could learn if all observers took the 30 seconds to lodge a sighting via their mobile phone. This cutey was seen just off the shore of Airlie Beach, possibly the closest inshore sighting ever in the Great Barrier Reef.

Whale Shark Eye on the Reef - Sighting by JShark on Thursday, 9 December 2021 2:00 PM AEST

The cornerstone group of wildlife that defines a coral reef are the corals, especially the hard or stony corals. When visiting the Reef, especially rarely visited locations, be sure to submit a representative photo of the reef like this - some general but still valuable information can be seen by the managers and scientists trying to help the Reef.

Hard Corals Eye on the Reef - Sighting by hollyhavalambert on Sunday, 28 November 2021 12:00 PM AEST

Most manta rays seen on the Great Barrier Reef are 'Reef manta' but rarely the Oceanic or "Giant" manta is seen like this one.

Manta Ray Eye on the Reef - Sighting by Ruth Smith on Tuesday, 30 November 2021 11:30 AM AEST

Found only within Australian waters, the Flatback turtle is rarely seen in the water but ancient nesting grounds now include a few locations with resorts.

Flatback Turtle Eye on the Reef - Sighting by Daelynclements on Friday, 3 December 2021 8:00 PM AEST

This years coral spawn was again captured by a handful of people out on the water at the time. This video shows the volume of eggs possible from a small reef, due to some of the spawn washing against the small cay the following morning.

Coral Spawn Eye on the Reef - Sighting by cogollosp on Wednesday, 24 November 2021 11:50 AM AEST

Possibly the first confirmation of this species in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Dolphins Eye on the Reef - Sighting by dataentry on Saturday, 13 November 2021 8:15 AM AEST

The causes of Crown-of-thorns starfish population booms have been theorised for decades as some combination of water quality feeding larval stages (Nitrogen driving phytoplankton blooms), predators of the starfish being removed (over-fishing) and water circulation events (El Nino variation). Latest Bayesian modeling very strongly signals the removal of vast volumes of fish that feed on the starfish at different sizes as being a definite driver. We need to get serious with fishery management on the Reef.

Fish predators control outbreaks of Crown-of-Thorns Starfish - Nature Communications Outbreaks of Crown-of-Thorn Starfish (CoTS) have caused coral cover declines across the Indo-Pacific. Here the authors analyse long-term CoTS, coral reef fish monitoring, and fisheries catch data from the Great Barrier Reef to demonstrate removal of predatory fish as a contributor to CoTS outbreaks.

A neat little summary of the Marine Park and World Heritage Area with just enough information to please most community members. One Module not yet released.

Discover the Reef from home 🏠🐠
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Up your Great Barrier Reef knowledge this National Science Week! The Reef Discovery course is an online guide to all things Reef, so you can learn about this incredible ecosystem from anywhere in the world. This ten-module, self paced course is suitable for anyone with an interest in the Great Barrier Reef and a passion for discovery. 🐳
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Learn how to register for the Reef Discovery course here: https://bit.ly/2VISlwJ
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📷 © Commonwealth of Australia (GBRMPA)
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📌 Heron Island
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The latest from the main science centre for the Reef, summarizing this last lucky year or so of nothing bad happening.

Exciting Good News. Uncertainty of ‘locked in’ inevitable warming for decades even if we convert global infrastructure to renewables, continues to be clarified with good news: Global warming is now strongly expected to STOP virtually immediately after we reach zero emissions. This means that if we then assist carbon sinks as well, we can DRAWDOWN carbon and reverse global warming maybe within a century!! This can be solved. We can do it. We can save coral reefs including the Great Barrier Reef. But we must switch off the entire global carbon system as a global emergency. https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/17/2987/2020/