This is just out today! Rehabilitating reefs in the Anthropocene. A primer on the curent state of reef restoration science and practice. Led by Alasdair Edwards, with me and Adriana Humanes
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Sciences at Newcastle Ecology Group, Newcastle University

Come work with us Australian Institute of Marine Science in our Reef Recovery, Adaptation and Restoration Program. We have two permanent positions available: 1) Aquaculture Geneticist and 2) Evolutionary Modeller. Please share! aims.gov.au/about/careers-…

Corals are truly fascinating! A coral fragment kept in a separate tank and its original colony spawning simultaneously tonight at an ex-situ lab. It's like magic! Did you know corals also play a crucial role in our atmosphere? They act as nature's magicians, seeding rainclouds by

New Postdoc opportunity at UQ to design coral reef interventions. Based in Brisbane with field work in Palau. Priority to people with work rights but international applicants considered. Please rt

uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/job/…

The first aerial orthomosaics from the northern GBR during the 2024 mass coral bleaching event are up online:

data.geonadir.com/image-collecti…

Images are open-source to encourage resurveys and time series analysis of > 1 million georeferenced bleached corals (1/n)

🚨 4th MCBE in #Huvadhu , 🇲🇻🚨

#Coralbleaching is on full throttle in #Maldives . After 8 years of recovery from the 3rd Mass Coral Bleaching event, we're facing the 4th Mass Coral Bleaching Event in just 8 years. The resilience of these reefs is being tested once again.

Today we released the Reef Snapshot 2023−24 with Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Australian Institute of Marine Science, which confirms the cumulative impacts experienced across the Great Barrier Reef this summer have been higher than previous summers.

Read the full story. 👇 csiro.au/en/news/All/Ne…

The Reef snaphot: summer 2023-24 is available⬇️

An initiative of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, AIMS + @csiro, the snapshot looks at the recent summer conditions & how corals + #GreatBarrierReef health were affected.

Media release: bit.ly/3Jp6bdb
Snapshot: bit.ly/3Q1PqbC

Interactive spatial maps of the 2024 mass coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef: track patterns of thermal exposure (DHW) for any reef on the GBR:

marine-ecologist.github.io/GBR-coral-blea…

2024 Great Barrier Reef widespread bleaching event unfolding.

Very high (60-90% corals cover) and extreme (>90% coral cover) prevalence of coral bleaching is clearly visible from aerial surveys on a third of the surveyed reefs, across all 3 regions of the Great Barrier Reef.

The 2024 mass coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef in numbers (preliminary analysis):

- 46% of reefs experienced record high DHW
- new record of 17.7 DHW from the southern GBR
- 37% of the GBR has been exposed to three or more >6DHW events in the past decade

(1/n)

Record heat and extreme temperature anomalies have led to severe coral bleaching in Woppaburra sea Country. I felt devastated getting in the water. Some mortality (not quantified yet) was also visible.

The heat wave is subsiding now - we hope these resilient reefs can recover.

🚨 NOAA Coral Bleaching Alert for Maldives 🚨- 🟠WARNING

SST crossed monthly mean, max monthly mean & bleaching threshold. Likely wider coral bleaching ongoing. Time to ⬇️ stress on corals, especially from sedimentation. MPAs are important as refugia & hope spots #Maldives

Mikhail Matz 🇺🇦 It works better than I expected - first image is the first-pass output, second image is the result after I added a few missing polyps (= a few clicks):

In December 2023, this reef in the northern Great Barrier Reef was 100% coral cover. In March 2024, after ~6 weeks of prolonged heat stress, coral bleaching was extensive and mortality underway, with 80% bleached and 20% recently dead colonies.

Incredible use of drone tech to perform before-after bleaching assessments on the GBR by Jez Roff
Play with the slider here:
marine-ecologist.shinyapps.io/flank-a-app/
Eyrie Reef near Lizard Island, December 2023 vs. March 2024. Mortality above 70%

Tracking the fate of bleached corals: we have a LOT of georeferenced orthomosaics (above and below water) from the northern GBR that will be open source and freely available for analysis and follow up surveys. More information to come, DM for details in the interim 🪸

Mass coral bleaching unfolding at Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef (March 2024). These events have become “normalised” to the point where it’s easy to forget that 20 yrs ago this would have been an unprecedented and isolated event.

Mass mortality currently unfolding in the northern Great Barrier Reef. This isn’t an isolated site: an entire 8km long fore-reef flank that three months ago was >80% coral cover. After 6 DHW >90% of these colonies are either bleached or dead.

🐠 Witnessing nature's spectacle!

Coral Spawning in #Huvadhu , #Maldives ! Aerial Coral Bleaching Monitoring covered 360,000 m2 of reef via drone, revealing low-level bleaching. Amidst the brilliance, vibrant colonies & spawn slicks from the previous night dazzle reef🌏✨