How's the Reef Doing? - Coral Bleaching Update from Reef Ecologic
Channel: Reef Ecologic
Date: 2022-02-07

A recent trip to the outer Great Barrier Reef highlighted the current threat of potential bleaching as the warm start to summer is putting some early stress on the corals. Recent articles like this one in The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/19/great-barrier-reef-could-face-another-mass-bleaching-by-end-of-january-forecast-says)  highlight the concern marine scientists have for the GBR this season and the potential for another widespread bleaching event.

Read more at https://theconversation.com/another-mass-bleaching-event-is-devastating-the-great-barrier-reef-what-will-it-take-for-coral-to-survive-180180 

See also https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-facts-coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-what-we-can-do-/ 

The team from Reef Ecologic catalogued their visit sharing data and information with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's Eye on the Reef program, citizen science platform iNaturalistorg and shared news across multiple social media platforms to raise awareness about the ongoing threat climate change poses to the Reef.

Some links to tools discussed in this video include 
Bureau of Meteorology - ReefTemp Tools - http://www.bom.gov.au/environment/activities/reeftemp/reeftemp.shtml 
NOAA Coral Reef Watch - https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/ 
iNaturalist - https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/home 

We hope that the weather over the next few weeks is cloudy and rainy enough to reduce the pressure on the Reef for this summer but realise we all need to do more to protect the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.

00:00 Introduction 
00:59 What is Coral Bleaching? 
02:15 Are Bleached Corals Dead? 
03:15 How Long Does it Date? 
03:32 Degree Heating Weeks
04:43 Why Some Corals Bleach and Others Look Ok
06:39 How is the Reef Doing?
08:23 What Can You Do?

Reef Ecologic would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians on the land and sea country where we  live and work  especially the Manbarra Traditional Custodians where this film was taken. We pay our respects to our elders past, present and emerging,