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The
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said on Thursday that a
prolonged period of warmer than usual ocean currents has led to
water temperatures that are 2 to 3°C above average for February,
which is already the hottest month of the year on the reef.
"So these anomalies are really very concerning and they have
intensified in the last week," David Wachenfeld, the authority's
chief scientist, said in his weekly video update.
The reef, which runs 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) down
Australia's north eastern coast spanning an area half the size
of Texas, has only just begun to recover after being heavily hit
by two consecutive years of coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017.
The marine park authority said it was further investigating the
renewed bleaching, using spot checks by divers, helicopter
patrols, and observations by the public.
Lyle Vail, director of the Australian Museum's Lizard Island
Research Station which is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park, said he had observed about 30% to 40% of coral in shallow
waters off the island had some level of bleaching.
"The bright blue staghorn coral is ... fluorescing – another
sign a coral is in distress," he said in a statement from the
World Wildlife Fund Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef has an economic, social and icon asset
value of $56 billion. It supports 64,000 jobs and contributes
$6.4 billion to the Australian economy, Deloitte found in a 2017
report.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; editing by Jane Wardell)
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