Great Barrier Reef sees fragile coral comeback

 Yahoo – AFP, Andrew BEATTY, August 4, 2022 

Parts of Australia's beleaguered Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades, a government report said Thursday, suggesting the aquatic wonder could survive given the chance. 

Portions of the vast UNESCO heritage site showed a marked increase in coral cover in the last year, reaching levels not seen in 36 years of monitoring, the Australian Institute of Marine Science said. 

Scientists surveying 87 sites said northern and central parts of the reef had bounced back from damage more quickly than some had expected, thanks mainly to fast-growing Acropora -- a branching coral that supports thousands of marine species. 

"These latest results demonstrate the reef can still recover in periods free of intense disturbances," said the Australian Institute of Marine Science's CEO Paul Hardisty. 

But far from declaring victory, Hardisty warned the gains could easily be reversed by cyclones, new bleaching events or crown-of-thorns outbreaks. 

He pointed to a reversal in fortunes for the southern portion of the reef, which a year ago had appeared to be on the mend, but was now in decline again. 

"This shows how vulnerable the reef is to the continued acute and severe disturbances that are occurring more often, and are longer-lasting," he said. 

Coral coverage has increased by 36 percent across sites monitored in the northern part of the reef, up from 27 percent in 2021. 

But the picture was less encouraging as the scientists moved south, with a smaller increase in cover in the reef's central belt and a marked decrease in coral cover in the south. 

The spread of coral-killing crown-of-thorns starfish has also taken a toll. 

Only fierce lobbying by the Australian government stopped the reef from being labelled "in danger" by UNESCO -- a potentially devastating blow to the country's multi-billion-dollar tourism industry. 

Many fear that the speeding rate of damage could cause the reef to be destroyed entirely. 

Marine scientist Terry Hughes said it was "good news" that coral was regrowing, but warned the species driving the recovery were very vulnerable to ocean heating. 

He added that replacing large, old, slow-growing corals that had defined the reef was likely "no longer possible. Instead we're seeing partial reassembly of fast-growing, weedy corals before the next disturbance." 

Zoe Richards a researcher at the Coral Conservation and Research Group at Curtin University also cautioned against over-optimism. 

"This recovery trend is driven by a handful of Acropora species which often grow in a boom-and-bust pattern," she said. "This means that the next thermal stress event could easily decimate these coral communities once again." 

"We are already finding evidence that each mass bleaching event leads to local extinctions of rarer species, so the short-term success of a handful of fast-growing coral species masks the full story about the largely hidden losses of biodiversity."

Related Article:

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....The Prediction: The Renewal of the Life Cycle

When you change the temperature strata of the oceans of the earth, things start to change, for the life cycle of the food in the ocean depends upon that which is the smallest. The plankton of the planet survive in certain temperatures, and that's changing. Throw away what you think you know about how it's all supposed to work, and instead think "renewal" or "how did it begin." This will serve you to understand what is happening now. This cycle is built to replenish the ocean with life and not always by sustaining the kind that was there.

Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth.

Within this process, there will be the extinction of certain plants and animals, birds and fish. My advice to you, especially to those environmentalists, is to understand the cycle of life so that you may relax with what nature has always done. It puts life on the planet to serve the planet for a time. When certain life no longer serves the planet in the ways it used to, it takes it away. The extinction of life, especially through weather change, is normal for Gaia. It is honored, appropriate and normal, even if you don't think so. Don't try to save all the disappearing animals, fish and birds! Some are supposed to go away. And, dear ones, don't assign all this activity to something you did to cause it!

The red people are stressing. The purple is here, and they are trying to figure out what they did wrong. They don't know they are in the Rainbow Room. They think they are in the RED ROOM. This is what the Rainbow Room does; it changes colors. So as the room does what it has always done, the red people are sitting there in fear trying to figure out what it is that they did that possibly could have caused the purple to appear.

The Rainbow Room is beautiful. The color purple is significant. Going from red to purple has metaphysical significance within this parable, but I'll let you figure it out. For those who are into colors, there's a reason why I gave those two. The earth is becoming more sacred than it's ever been before. Gaia is with you in this. It's cooperating in ways you never thought it could, in the way biologists said it would not. You think you're killing it? Instead, it's giving birth to an altered ecological system. ...."

Australian brings reef fight to Deutsche Bank

A tourism operator from the Great Barrier Reef has come halfway around the world in a last-ditch attempt to save his business. He's hoping to convince European banks not to fund a coal terminal expansion on his doorstep.

Deutsche Welle, 28 May 2014

Signage of a protest against the proposed coal port at Abbot Point, reading Reef In Danger, at the Great Barrier Reef

Tony Brown is a long way from home. Dressed in a navy blue suit, he's sitting in the breakfast room of his Frankfurt hotel, a boiled egg and Brötchen on his plate.

The last time Brown came to Germany, he was in his 20s and the Berlin Wall was still standing. Now a specific mission has brought him back. In a few hours he's planning to address more than 4,000 shareholders at Deutsche Bank's annual general meeting.

"I think our story is compelling, and I think it's important that the banks hear it," he tells DW.

For the past 11 years, the 51-year-old has worked as a tour boat operator in the town of Airlie Beach on Australia's tropical north-east coast. His company takes visitors on sailing trips to the paradisiacal Whitsunday Islands and world-famous Great Barrier Reef.

"There are pristine waters and it's a beautiful place to take people snorkeling and diving, because you can walk straight off a beach into the fringing reefs," he says.

But the expansion of a controversial coal port at Abbot Point, on the reef's doorstep, could put the health of the ecosystem - and Brown's livelihood - at risk.

Tony Brown: 'It's important the
banks hear our story'

The development would make Abbot Point the biggest coal terminal in the world, and involve dumping three million cubic meters of dredged sediment into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

"That's enough spoil to build a five-meter high, one-meter wide wall from Hamburg to Munich," he says. "If this volume of spoil was dumped in the Black Forest, imagine the response from the people of Germany."

Taking on the banks

This is where the banks come in. Deutsche Bank was one of three lenders to help Indian conglomerate Adani Group refinance the lease on the 30-year-old coal port. Adani is now trying to raise billions more to expand the terminal.

In a final effort to stop the project, Brown bought shares in potential investors - including Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank and HSBC - and travelled to Europe to urge the banks to stay away.

Brown has just come from Paris, where the Societe Generale AGM didn't go quite as planned. He's disappointed, he reports, because the board wasn't interested in what he had to say.

"I'm not going to profess that I'm the oracle on this, but I certainly have looked into this deeply, and tried to understand what is going on here," he says. "Presenting that information is important. At least I'm putting some balance into the discussion."

Reef in trouble

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral structure in the world, home to 1,625 types of fish, and an abundance of other marine species, including turtles, whales, dolphins and dugongs.

Brown says he's already seen an increase in shipping traffic in the area, and he worries dredging could have an irrevocable effect on water quality and marine life.

"I'm a business person who's concerned about his business, and I have other operators out there who are concerned about their business and livelihood," he says. "Sea dumping is not best practice, and it needs to be changed if we have any hope of turning around the recovery of the Great Barrier Reef."

 

There are 600 different types of coral and an abundance of marine
life in the Great Barrier Reef

The reef is already under threat from climate change and bleaching coral. UNESCO has also expressed concerns about increasing development along the coastline and is threatening to list the reef as World Heritage "in danger."

Last resort

After breakfast it's time to go. Brown is optimistic about the meeting, and he has some local support behind him. In the past few days more than 180,000 Germans have signed a petition calling on Deutsche Bank not to back the mega coal project.

Heffa Schücking, director of German NGO Urgewald, arrives to accompany Brown to the AGM. It's the one place, she says, "where they have to listen to you."

"If there's anyone out there who does care about this, this is the only way we can reach them. Our experience has been that sometimes at AGMs surprising decisions can be taken to move away from a project."

Making the case

The massive convention center hall at Messe Frankfurt is almost full. Several hours pass, and a string of shareholders speak, before Brown's name is finally called.

He's prepared a statement, but as it has to be in German, an interpreter is on hand to read a translation.

He tells shareholders how the Great Barrier Reef's tourism industry provides almost 60,000 jobs, and annually generates more than 6 billion dollars for the Australian economy.

He also tells them that more than 2 million people visit the reef each year - including 200,000 tourists from Germany.

But before Brown's speech is over, there's some good news. Jürgen Fitschen, one of the bank's co-chief executive officers, turns on his microphone and confirms that the company will not finance the development without an assurance that it would not damage the Great Barrier Reef.

"As there is clearly no consensus between the Australian government and UNESCO regarding the impacts of the Abbot Point expansion on the reef we will not consider financial applications of an expansion," Fitschen says.

Mission accomplished

Back at his hotel, hurriedly packing a suitcase (He has a plane to catch), Brown is pleased with how the day has gone. But he admits there will always be more investors who could step in to fund the coal port.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living
 structure on Earth, spanning 2,300 kilometers
(1,430 miles)

"We know the reef's in trouble and needs strong steps to be managed into the future, and Deutsche Bank made those strong steps today," he says.

Heffa Schücking isn't so sure. "As an organization which has over 10 years experience with watching Deutsche Bank, we do have to be careful and stay on our toes," she says. "We will monitor where Deutsche Bank sends its money. We don't want to see indirect financing going towards that harbor or anything else that would destroy the reef."

Next stop on the European tour: the HSBC AGM in London. Brown is hoping he'll have some more good news to take back to his colleagues who live and work on the reef.

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Time running out for Great Barrier Reef: scientists

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Islanders afraid to go home 60 years after Bikini Atoll H-bomb


"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution / Oil spills ...  > 20 Min)

Australia Approves Plan to Dump Dredge Spoil in Barrier Reef

Jakarta Globe – AFP, January 31, 2014

Mounds of coal can be seen along the coastline of Queensland at the port of
Hay Point, located around 450 km (279 miles) southeast of the city of Townsville
August 5, 2009. (Reuters Photo)

Sydney. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on Friday approved the dumping of up to three million cubic meters of dredge waste in park waters in a move blasted by environmentalists.

The decision follows the government giving the green light to a major coal port expansion for India’s Adani Group on the reef coast in December, under some of the strictest-ever environmental conditions.

It will see Adani dredge three million cubic meters of material from the seabed to allow freighters to dock at the port in Abbot Point, lifting the facility’s capacity by 70 percent to make it one of the world’s largest coal ports.

Conservationists warned it could hasten the demise of the World Heritage-listed reef, which is already considered to be in “poor” health, with dredging smothering corals and seagrasses and exposing them to poisons and elevated levels of nutrients.

The reef is already facing pressures from climate change, land-based pollution and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.

“This is a sad day for the reef and anyone who cares about its future,” said WWF Great Barrier Reef campaigner Richard Leck.

“The World Heritage Committee will take a dim view of this decision, which is in direct contravention of one of its recommendations.”

The reef is facing a World Heritage downgrade from Unesco this year due to concerns about rampant coastal development proposed in the region, particularly port, gas and coal operations. Unesco are due to meet in June, when they are expected to discuss the issue.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) chairman Russell Reichelt said he recognized there was intense community concern and debate about the application by North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation to dispose of dredge spoil in the park.

But he said allowing the project to proceed would help contain development to existing ports, and the reef itself and seagrass meadows would still be protected.

“This approval is in line with the agency’s view that port development along the Great Barrier Reef coastline should be limited to existing ports,” he said.

“It’s important to note the sea floor of the approved disposal area consists of sand, silt and clay and does not contain coral reefs or seagrass beds.”

The GBRMPA, whose board is currently under investigation for its links to the mining industry, added that the strict environmental conditions imposed on the project by the federal government would help protect the reef.

The conditions require that sediment entering the marine park be reduced by 150 percent over the long term – a “net benefit” to water quality – and that $81 million be contributed to reef conservation programs and specific measures observed to protect marine flora and fauna.

WWF Australia has said the material dredged during the port expansion would be enough to fill 150,000 dump trucks that “lined up bumper-to-bumper would stretch from Brisbane to Melbourne,” a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

Agence France-Presse

The reef: the spoil will be dumped about 24km from Abbot Point, the gateway

to the world heritage-listed reef. Photograph: Grant V Faint/Getty Images

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Australia Claims ‘Substantial’ Progress on Reef Protection - New

A handout picture made available by Greenpeace on Feb. 1, 2014 shows a

 sign protesting the proposed coal port at Abbot Point at the Great Barrier Reef,

 north of Bowen, Queensland, Australia. (EPA Photo/Greenpeace Australia and

New Zealand)

Conservationists Work With Fishermen to Save the Reefs

In Malang, coral repopulation is key, Dyah Ayu Pitaloka writes

Jakarta Globe, Dyah Ayu Pitaloka, November 10, 2013

Sahabat Alam has teamed up with local fishing communities to help repopulate
coral reefs. (JG Photo/Dyah Ayu Pitaloka)

A group of volunteers, some still in their teens, walked up to the shoreline of Kondang Merak beach in Malang district, East Java.

Slowly they rolled up their jeans as small waves pounded their feet. They were each carrying pieces of coral that had been carefully attached to prefabricated wire mesh bearing the volunteers’ names.

The volunteers “donated between Rp 10,000 and Rp 50,000 ($0.88 to $4.40) each for this coral reef repopulation effort. Though there are also those who cannot afford to donate money but are able to give their time and power to plant coral reefs,” Andi Syaifudin said.

Andi is the chairman of Sahabat Alam (Nature’s Friend), which focuses on coral reef, mangrove and sea-turtle conservation around Kondang Merak beach.

The 5-square-kilometer area, located 62 kilometers south of Malang city, was once famous for being one of the most beautiful snorkeling and diving spots off the southern coast of Java.

“We fell in love with Kondang Merak because of its beautiful coral reefs and pristine white sands,” he said.

But since early 2000 the use of fish bombs and cyanide by local fishermen has contributed to the destruction of 80 percent of the local coral population.

With the reefs destroyed, residents in the area have lost their livelihoods, not only from dwindling fish populations but also from the declining number of divers visiting Kondang Merak’s five diving spots.

“Around five to 10 years ago we were able to get 50 kilograms of lobster each time we sailed out to sea,” local fisherman Edi said, adding that he could earn between Rp 400,000 to Rp 750,000 per kilogram.

“Now we consider ourselves lucky to get just 5 kilograms [of lobster],” he said.

Sahabat Alam has been teaching local fishing communities about the importance of coral reefs and how using fish bombs and cyanide in fishing poses a huge threat to their livelihoods.

“Lobsters like to hide in coral reefs and now the reefs have been destroyed,” said Edi, who joined Sahabat Alam’s coral repopulation drive. “Slowly we are realizing that we need to catch lobsters using techniques that will not harm the coral, by diving or using nets.”

The Malang district’s Maritime and Fisheries office noted that there are nine areas in Malang with critically damaged coral reef systems, including Kondang Merak. In these areas, coral reefs will disappear unless something is done.

Coral reefs not only provide a vital food source for the fish but also stop erosion and tidal waves.

At 10 more sites in Malang, coral reefs are considered fairly damaged, which means the reefs will be able to repopulate without human intervention if the damaging activities stop.

Wahyu Hidayat, local head of the Marine and Fisheries Agency, said the government has the necessary funding to repopulate the coral reefs but needs help from groups like Sahabat Alam for human resources and expertise.

“Any community willing to do real work will get our support,” he said.

Zainul Arifin, a Sahabat Alam member, said it is important to engage the local fishing community in conservation efforts.

Coral grows between 2 to 3 centimeters a month and needs to spend at least six months in nursery grounds before it can be planted in open water and survive on its own. During that period, they need constant care to keep sand and mold from getting into their pores and inhibiting their growth. That, Zainal said, is where the fishermen come in.

“A huge percentage of our donors’ money goes to the fishermen for this monitoring process. Without the involvement of the local fishing community it will be all for nothing,” he said.

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Population explosion of coral-eating starfish, storms and acidification of oceans causing rapid decline, study finds

guardian.co.uk, Alok Jha, science correspondent, Monday 1 October 2012

Coral cover on Australia's Great Barrier Reef has declined by more than half 

over the last 27 years according to marine scientists Link to this video

Coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef has dropped by more than half over the last 27 years, according to scientists, a result of increased storms, bleaching and predation by population explosions of a starfish which sucks away the coral's nutrients.

At present rates of decline, the coral cover will halve again within a decade, though scientists said the reef could recover if the crown-of-thorns starfish can be brought under control and, longer term, global carbon dioxide emissions are reduced.

"This latest study provides compelling evidence that the cumulative impacts of storms, crown-of-thorns starfish (Cots) and two bleaching events have had a devastating effect on the reef over the last three decades," said John Gunn, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Coral reefs are an important part of the marine ecosystem as sources of food and as protection for young fish. They are under threat around the world from the effects of bleaching, due to rising ocean temperatures, and increasing acidification of the oceans, which reduces the corals' ability to build their calcium carbonate structures.

The Great Barrier Reef is the most iconic coral reef in the world, listed as a Unesco world heritage site and the source of $A5bn (£3.2bn) a year to the Australian economy through tourism. The observations of its decline are based on more than 2,000 surveys of 214 reefs between 1985 and 2012. The results showed a decline in coral cover from 28% to 13.8% – an average of 0.53% a year and a total loss of 50.7% over the 27-year period. The study was published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal (subscription).

Two-thirds of the coral loss has occurred since 1998 and the rate of decline has increased in recent years, averaging around 1.45% a year since 2006. "If the trend continued, coral cover could halve again by 2022," said Peter Doherty, a research fellow at the institute.

Tropical cyclones, predation by Cots, and bleaching accounted for 48%, 42%,and 10% of the respective estimated losses. In the past seven years the reef has been affected by six major cyclones. Cyclone Hamish, for example, ran along the reef, parallel to the coast for almost 930 miles (1,500km), leaving a trail of destruction much greater than the average cyclone, which usually crosses the reef on a path perpendicular to the coast.

The starfish problem was first recorded in 1962 at Green Island off Cairns. "When we say outbreaks, we mean explosions of Cots populations to a level where the numbers are so large that they end up eating upwards of 90% of a reef's coral," Gunn said. "Since 1962 there have been major outbreaks every 13-14 years."

The evidence suggests that outbreaks of Cots start two or three years after major floods in northern rivers.

In September, scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature announced that Caribbean coral reefs are on the verge of collapse, with less than 10% of the reef area showing live coral cover. The collapse was due to environmental issues, including over-exploitation, pollution and climate change.

David Curnick, marine and freshwater programme co-ordinator at the Zoological Society of London, said many of the most endangered coral species around the world were also under severe pressure from the aquarium trade.

"Corals are notoriously hard to propagate in captivity and therefore the trade is still heavily dependent on harvesting from the wild."."

He said the results of the Great Barrier Reef survey were not surprising and the challenge for conservationists was to limit the localised threats to give reefs a chance to recover and develop resilience against the effects of climate change. "This is challenging but entirely achievable and there are many community-led projects around the world demonstrating this."

Corals can recover if given the chance. But this is slow – in the absence of cyclones, Cots and bleaching, the Great Barrier Reef can regrow at a rate of 2.85% a year, the scientists wrote. Removing the Cots problem alone would allow coral cover to increase at 0.89% a year.

Reducing Cots means improving water quality around the rivers at the northern end of the reef to reduce agricultural run-off – high levels of nutrients flowing off the land feed and allow high survival of Cots larvae. Another option is some form of biological control of populations – Gunn said there were promising results from research on naturally occurring pathogens that could keep Cots in check, but it was not ready to be applied in the field.

He said the future of the Reef lay partly in human hands. "We can achieve better water quality, we can tackle the challenge of crown-of-thorns, and we can continue to work to ensure the resilience of the reef to climate change is enhanced. However, its future also lies with the global response to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The coral decline revealed by this study – shocking as it is – has happened before the most severe impacts of ocean warming and acidification associated with climate change have kicked in, so we undoubtedly have more challenges ahead."

A fishing boat off the coast of Alaska. (September 19, 2012)

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“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."