DURBAN - An extensive study into the health of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is under way, with a 25-day data collecting journey canvassing bleach affected parts of the reef not observed since 2016.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) revealed details of the mission yesterday, with the organisation’s largest research vessel carrying a team of 18 specialists to survey the damage done by recent coral bleaching events, as well as collecting general data about marine life.
Aims senior research scientist Dr Line Bay, who was on-board for the first half of the trip, said coral reefs are particularly sensitive to the effects of global warming, making it vitally important to monitor them.
“We hadn’t been to that part of the reef since before the bleaching so we went back to resurvey these reefs to look at the health and condition of both the coral communities, but also fish populations and sharks,” Bay said.
Coral bleaching occurs when coral reefs are exposed to higher than usual water temperatures and prolonged periods of direct sunlight.
The Great Barrier Reef experienced two significant bleaching events in 2016 and 2017, the consequences of which were only just starting to be understood. Bay’s team made the most of the 34.9m long modern research vessel, Solander, using its on-board wet lab to conduct heat stress tests on corals which had survived bleaching events.