by Alison Jones | Apr 20, 2020 | Coral
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...
by Alison Jones | Mar 7, 2020 | Coral
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...
by Alison Jones | Jan 22, 2020 | Coral
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...
by Alison Jones | Sep 29, 2019 | Coral
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...
by Alison Jones | May 23, 2019 | Coral
Crustose ccoralline algae are rock-hard, calcareous red algae that fulfil two key functional roles in coral reef ecosystems: they contribute significantly to reef calcification and cementationthey induce larval settlement of many benthic organisms. They encourage baby...
by Alison Jones | May 21, 2019 | Coral
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...
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