In February 2020, the first bleaching event in 14 years occurred in the Keppel Islands. The corals mainly affected were the fast-growing branching corals that live in the shallow waters fringing the islands. While many see this as a devastating event, a new study...

Coral bleaching occurs when reef building corals shed their tiny algae to relieve stress and to increase their chances of survival. This spectacular aerial image of bleached branching corals at Big Peninsular was taken by Max Allen Jnr from Freedom Fastcats. Keppel...

If you’re visiting Monkey Reef off Great Keppel Island this week, you may see patches of bleached or seemingly dead corals. After a run of days with light winds and water temperatures peaking during the mid afternoons above 28 degrees C in the last 3 weeks, the...

Corals at Monkey Beach reef off Great Keppel Island were exposed to the air during the spring low tides at around 3am and 3pm on the 28th and 29th of September 2019. These extreme 'spring' low and high tides occur monthly at the time of the New Moon but only the...

Coral will grow just about anywhere! This diver's mask lay submerged for months and has become home to sponges, soft corals, turf algae, macro algae and what looks like a cyanobacteria. It shows how opportunistic marine animals and plants can be.  

Scott Gardner was returning from an 18-metre dive in the Keppels on 12 November 2006 when he heard a cracking noise.

Aptly named for its random attacks on humans, this giant Ferocious Puffer fish didn’t seem so fierce at the time. It was not camera-shy and seemed to enjoy our pats and attention.

Crustose coralline algae are rock-hard, calcareous red algae that fulfill two key functional roles in coral reef ecosystems.

Pinned on Pete’s dive shop wall were faded colour photos of the coral reef flat around the Middle Island Underwater Observatory at low tide. Every round, pin-cushion-shaped coral colony was a different shade of pale pink, blue, purple and yellow, like a Ken Done...

I developed an insatiable need to see the reefs, to learn about their intricate complexity and the factors that drive them.