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A mosaic of colorful and white corals lies just below the surface off Hook Island in the Whitsundays.
Marine scientist Professor Uwe Hoeg-Guldberg emerged from the sea with a firm assessment of what was happening.
“I think they’ve been slowly bleaching over the last couple of weeks,” he told 9News.
“Some of them will survive, but many of them will die. On that scale, it’s quite a success, as you can imagine.”
He is one of the researchers assessing the damage after the latest marine heatwave hit the Great Barrier Reef, causing the fifth mass bleaching in eight years.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science estimates that 73 percent of the reef has experienced “widespread bleaching” and for the first time “extreme bleaching” has been recorded in all three regions of the marine park.
“It’s really important to see that this is not commonplace, because it’s not. The steps we take now will determine whether we have coral reefs in the future,” Hoeg-Guldberg said.
The Australian Conservation Foundation took 9News on a tour of some of the affected regions.
ACF’s Freya Cole said it was devastating to see the reef struggling, calling on the Albanese government to do more to cut emissions to reduce pressure on the vulnerable ecosystem.
“There is a crisis underwater and it is being exacerbated by climate change,” she said.
Bleaching occurs when heat-stressed corals turn white after shedding the algae that provide their color.
As sea temperatures rise as a result of global warming, these events are occurring more frequently.
This is worrying for tour operators like Lindsey Simpson, who has been organizing reef charter trips with her husband for more than 10 years.
“I just had a terrible feeling that this was going to happen during our summer and we were absolutely heartbroken,” she told 9News.
“I think I pretend to people when they go out with us that everything is fine. People have woken up to the fact that things are far from right, so what are we doing about it?”
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said $1.2 billion had been invested in reef adaptation and resilience and outlined the government’s plans to reduce emissions.
But to save the reef for future generations, marine scientists such as Professor Hoegh-Guldberg say more drastic action is needed.
“We can’t sit back and say, ‘Is it worth it, isn’t it?’ We must act now.”
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