Latest news with #Ningaloo
SBS Australia
a day ago
- Science
- SBS Australia
Scientists confirm worst coral bleaching on record off Australia's western coastline
While researchers are still assessing the full extent of the damage wrought by a marine heatwave, the Australian Institute of Marine Science has confirmed the most widespread bleaching on record for Western Australia. "The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA," the institute's senior research scientist James Gilmour said. "Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time." Sensitive to heat stress, corals expel the algae living in their tissues in warm water, causing the coral to go pale. Bleaching is not always fatal but if underwater heat is prolonged and severe, corals can die. Sea surface temperatures around Australia last summer were the warmest on record since 1900, with coral heat stress peaking in January. Conditions varied across the tropical reefs spanning 1500km — from "extreme", or 90 per cent bleached or dead, to "medium", somewhere between 11 per cent and 30 per cent. Mermaid and Clerke reefs in the Rowley Shoals, 300km west of Broome, recorded "very high" levels of mortality, between 61 per cent and 90 per cent. The World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, known for its whale sharks, experienced "high" bleaching and mortality between 31 per cent and 60 per cent. Dr Gilmour said climate change was driving the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and giving them little time to bounce back in between. "They need 10 to 15 years to recover fully," he said. "The key to helping coral reefs survive under climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." Improving water quality and cracking down on overfishing can also support reef health. The Great Barrier Reef has also been under pressure, experiencing the largest-ever annual decline in coral cover in two of its three regions in 2024. Heat stress was largely responsible, with predator outbreaks and cyclones also damaging the expansive ecosystem. The updates on coral health land ahead of the expected release of the federal government's 2035 climate goals, due in September under the Paris Agreement rules.
ABC News
a day ago
- Science
- ABC News
Western Australia's 'catastrophic' bleaching event leaves parts of the spectacular Ningaloo Reef white and grey
Even the pristine "hope spot" of Ningaloo could not escape the state's worst ever coral bleaching. The striking red earth meets a sparkling turquoise sea at Ningaloo. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) It's the colours that tell you where you are. A sparkling turquoise sea washes into the red earth. More than 500 species of fish and more than 250 species of coral can be found in Ningaloo's waters. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Bob beneath the surface and you'll find a rainbow palette of life. More than 500 species of fish, and more than 250 species of coral lighting up the seabed. But now, Ningaloo is using its treasured hues to send out an SOS. The reef's distress call is captured in stark images taken by ocean photographer Brooke Pyke earlier this year. "Everything was just completely white," she says. A large formation of coral that has suffered from bleaching. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) The grooves of this brain coral are a stark white after bleaching. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Bleached pillar coral found in Ningaloo. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Ningaloo and other WA reefs escaped major bleaching in previous global marine heating events but not this time. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Brooke has been working in the diving industry for more than a decade. She remembers her first dive at the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef — some 1,200 kilometres north of Perth, off Western Australia's remote north-west coast. "The vibrancy of the colours, the diversity of coral species, the beautiful fish that live amongst all those organisms was just so, so vibrant and so full of life," she says. This is a snapshot of what Ningaloo looked like before the major bleaching event. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Lettuce coral and other coral species pictured in Ningaloo before the major bleaching event. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) "To see it now … it's just skeletons of what it was before. "It's some of the worst coral bleaching I've ever seen." Ocean photographer Brooke Pyke has been capturing the coral bleaching. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Brooke Pyke says the bleaching that's occurred at Ningaloo is some of the worst she's ever seen. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) 2024 was the warmest year on record for global oceans, culminating in the fourth-ever global coral bleaching event, which has circumnavigated oceans in a wave of ongoing coral mortality. It hit Ningaloo late last year. "In around December 2024, we started to notice that water temperatures were abnormally high," says molecular ecologist Dr Kate Quigley. "By the end of February, we were seeing some locations along the Western Australian coastline, including Ningaloo, as high as four degrees warmer than they should be. "For a coral, it is the difference between having a normal temperature versus having a raging fever." 'Unprecedented' damage to previously untouched corals Throughout this year, scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have been surveying the damage to WA's reefs, and a clear picture has now emerged. "There is no doubt the reef has suffered the worst heat stress, and indeed coral bleaching, that we've ever had in Western Australia before," AIMS research scientist James Gilmour says. "It's unprecedented." Dr James Gilmour says the level of bleaching is "unprecedented". ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) Last summer brought the longest, largest and most intense marine heatwave on record for WA. Coral bleaching and mortality is expected when heat stress exceeds eight weeks. During this event, some reefs in WA suffered for 20 to 30 weeks. Until this year, WA's north-west reefs had mostly evaded major bleaching, making them "hope spots" for Dr Gilmour. This time, virtually no WA reefs went unscathed. While the full impact is still being investigated, experts at the AIMS-led WA Coral Bleaching Group have so far reported bleaching and mortality across a 1,500-kilometre area. The Rowley Shoals, a group of three coral atolls off the coast of Broome, had never bleached before. AIMS believes this event killed up to 90 per cent of corals at the Mermaid and Clerke reefs there. Rowley Shoals pictured in 2012. ( Supplied: AIMS/Nick Thake ) Rowley Shoals pictured in April 2025. ( Supplied: AIMS/Anna Cresswell ) Their surveys at Ningaloo in May recorded up to 60 per cent of bleaching and mortality at some sites, with the Tantabiddi and Jurabi areas hit hardest. The scale has eclipsed Ningaloo's other major bleaching event, which occurred after a significant La Nina in 2011. The Tantabiddi reef, pictured in May 2025. ( Supplied: AIMS/Declan Stick ) Coral bleaching in the Tantabiddi reef. ( Supplied: AIMS/Declan Stick ) "It's really a wake-up call to us here," Dr Gilmour says. "Climate change, and global warming, has caught up with Western Australia's coral reefs." This year was the first time two World Heritage reefs on opposite sides of the country were bleaching simultaneously. "There is no doubt that this is the worst that WA has experienced and when you combine it with the Great Barrier Reef, it's the single worst bleaching event in Australia's history," Dr Gilmour says. "The severity, the extent and the duration of this event, is unprecedented." WA's coral reef has historically been more resilient to marine heatwaves. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Corals are animals, and the heat makes them sick. Warm waters make the coral sick and it's on a scale scientists haven't seen before. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) "That warm water causes the animal to start to lose its relationship with its little symbiotic algae inside of it," Dr Quigley explains. "Over time, the animal can starve. And if the warming is too severe or stays too severe for too long, the animal can actually die." That's what is happening now in some of the worst hit areas. The water at Ningaloo is crystal clear. And Dr Quigley, who is a senior research scientist at the philanthropic Minderoo Foundation, guides me around a section of the reef. Pointing at the seabed as we glide through the water, Dr Quigley is bobbing up every so often to say things like, "see this bommie — that's probably 500-years-old", or, "that's a good sign" when we see a happy-looking coral. But other times she doesn't need to bob up — I can make out the muffled word through her snorkel under the water. "Dead." These coral aren't a bleached-white colour anymore, but more of a grey, with algae growing all over. "When you get that amount of warming for that long, that's going to translate to a lot of mortality," Dr Quigley says. "We're kind of all waiting with bated breath on those exact [mortality] numbers. "But given what we know about the relationship between coral health and warming, it's unlikely to be good. "This has not just been a bad bleaching event, it has been an absolutely catastrophic bleaching event." Molecular ecologist Kate Quigley has come to Ningaloo to survey the damage. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) Kate Quigley took 7.30 on a tour under the water at Ningaloo. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) Kate Quigley is concerned about what the results of coral testing will show. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) A healthy reef doesn't just make for pretty pictures. It's critically important for both ecological and economic reasons, and vital for industries like fisheries and tourism. Just ask anyone who works in the tourist town of Exmouth, synonymous with snorkelling and swimming with whale sharks at Ningaloo. Craig Kitson has lived here for 25 years and runs a glass-bottom boat tourism business. Craig Kitson says the level of coral bleaching has the potential to hurt his business. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) "We're seeing patches where we've lost about 90 per cent of the coral," he says. "Definitely it has the potential to affect our business. I mean, our business is centred around looking at coral and fish." While some operators would prefer not to draw attention to the bleaching, Craig sees it as vital. Bleached coral at Ningaloo as seen from a drone. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) "From my perspective, I think it's more important than ever that people come and connect with this place," he says. "We tell everyone that comes on board that they're now an ambassador for the reef and they need to go forward and tell people, and the way they vote and the way they live their lives is really important and it's crucial for the next generations." Massive and branching coral in Ningaloo before bleaching. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) Massive and branching coral in Ningaloo after bleaching. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) 'How many wake up calls?' Federal Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson and WA Greens MP Sophie McNeill have travelled to Ningaloo for an in-water briefing by AIMS researchers about the bleaching event. "While Ningaloo is hanging on to life and there's still beauty and wonder here, people should come and see it, we know that if we don't act, there is no future for this reef," Whish-Wilson says. "How many wake up calls do we need?" The Greens say this year's coral bleaching event shows the need for stronger environmental protection laws and an ambitious 2035 emissions reduction target. While Australia is not among the world's top CO2 emitters, it is one of the biggest fossil fuel exporters. Up the coast from Ningaloo, in WA's Pilbara, leading LNG exporter Woodside Energy was recently given the green light to continue operating its North West Shelf gas plant until 2070, something Senator Whish-Wilson says "beggars belief" at a time when Australia's reefs are "suffocating". Woodside says research shows its LNG exports help displace coal in Asia, leading to lower global emissions. A different report, released last year, cast doubt over the environmental benefits of gas compared with coal. WA Greens MP Sophie McNeil and Senator Peter Whish-Wilson. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) In a statement, Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt told 7.30 the impact on Ningaloo "underlines the need for Australia and the world to take urgent action, including reaching net zero emissions". "That's what the Albanese Government is doing by setting ambitious 2030 emissions targets and driving up investment in renewables," he said. "Following the consideration of rigorous scientific and other advice, a proposed decision to approve the North West Shelf development has been made, subject to strict conditions, particularly relating to the impact of air emissions levels." Mr Watt said the project is also required to be net zero by 2050. The 2050 target comes from the 2015 Paris Agreement, where world leaders pledged to try to prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The West Australian state government introduced legislation to tackle climate emissions in 2023, but the Climate Change Bill was shelved ahead of the state election. Woodside Energy was given the green light to continue operating its North West Shelf gas plant until 2070. ( ABC News: Charlie Mclean ) In an attempt to revive the debate, the WA Greens have re-introduced Labor's climate Bill to WA parliament's upper house, with amendments including a renewable energy target. "Critically, we've put a 2030 target in it because WA is the only state without one," McNeill says. "It is communities like the ones here in Exmouth that will suffer because of the impact of global warming." WA's Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn was unavailable for an interview, but in a statement to 7.30 said this event "underscores the risks our environment faces from the effects of global climate change". He said the state government was "taking some time to review" its previously proposed climate change legislation, in light of new federal regulations which require big polluters to reduce their emissions over time. "We are focused on ensuring that our approach aligns with the most effective measures available to drive down emissions and support our transition to a decarbonised economy," he said. Coalition members are divided on whether Australia should even be pursuing net zero, with Federal WA Liberal Andrew Hastie calling out what he sees as "moral hypocrisy". He says Australia is exporting coal and gas to some of the world's biggest emitters, like China, India and Japan, at the same time as pursuing a costly decarbonisation journey that risks energy reliability. His stance is at odds with WA state Liberal leader Basil Zempilas, who sees no need to drop the 2050 target. A 'resilient, hope spot' Back in Exmouth, Dr Quigley and her team are selectively breeding corals to enhance their heat tolerance in the face of escalating ocean temperatures. Dr Quigley says that while they have seen encouraging results, there is "no silver bullet". "What we need is climate action now." Kate Quigley is breeding heat-resilient corals to cope with more freqent marine heatwaves. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) Kate Quigley says the best way to protect the reefs is to take action on greenhouse gas emissions. ( ABC News: Mitchell Edgar ) While bleaching does not always mean death for reefs, scientists say they need 10 to 15 years to fully recover, and that rising global temperatures mean the frequency and intensity of these events are likely to increase. Despite the bleaching Dr Gilmour says Ningaloo is still among the healthiest reefs on the planet. Scientists say corals need 10 to 15 years to recover from bleaching fully. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) The intensity and frequency of coral bleaching events are likely to increase. ( Supplied: Brooke Pyke ) "The reef is very resilient, nature is very resilient," he says. "But if you keep hitting it with impacts, then it can't recover." Just off the coast from where we are, we can see humpback whales breaching in the distance and soon after we've finished filming, we spot a manta ray gliding by a group of sea turtles. Ningaloo, Dr Gilmour says, remains his "hope spot". Credits: Reporter: Rhiannon Shine Photos and videos: Mitchell Edgar, Brooke Pyke, Australian Institute of Marine Science (Declan Stick, Anna Cresswell, Nick Thake) Digital production: Jenny Ky Editor: Paul Johnson Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV
The Guardian
a day ago
- Science
- The Guardian
WA's ‘longest and most intense' marine heatwave killed coral across 1,500km stretch
The 'longest, largest and most intense' marine heatwave ever recorded in Western Australia has killed coral throughout an area that stretches 1,500km, according to state and federal scientists. More than 100 scientists and marine managers will gather in Perth on Tuesday for a special meeting to discuss the devastating event that bleached and killed corals on remote reefs earlier this year. The marine heatwave that hit reefs from the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo to the remote Ashmore Reef left many scientists shocked. Sign up: AU Breaking News email A group of scientists from state and federal government departments, agencies and universities, who monitor coral bleaching in Western Australia, will issue a detailed update on Tuesday. The heatwave, which started to build off the north-western WA coast in August 2024, caused heat stress in corals across the state's northern reefs that lasted until May this year in 'the most severe coral bleaching on record for Western Australian coral reefs,' the update said. Coral bleaching describes a process whereby the coral animal expels the algae that live in its tissues and give it its colour and much of its nutrients. Without its algae, a coral's white skeleton can be seen through its translucent flesh, giving off a bleached appearance. Mass coral bleaching over large areas, first noticed in the 1980s around the Caribbean, is caused by rising ocean temperatures. Some corals also display fluorescent colours under stress when they release a pigment that filters light. Sunlight also plays a role in triggering bleaching. Corals can survive bleaching if temperatures are not too extreme or prolonged. But extreme marine heatwaves can kill corals outright. Coral bleaching can also have sub-lethal effects, including increased susceptibility to disease and reduced rates of growth and reproduction. Scientists say the gaps between bleaching events are becoming too short to allow reefs to recover. Coral reefs are considered one of the planet's ecosystems most at risk from global heating. Reefs support fisheries that feed hundreds of millions of people, as well as supporting major tourism industries. The world's biggest coral reef system – Australia's Great Barrier Reef – has suffered seven mass bleaching events since 1998, of which five were in the past decade. Dr James Gilmour, a senior research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science that coordinates the monitoring group, said on some coral reefs that were inspected, more than 90% of corals had either bleached or died. 'When you have more than about 75% of corals that have bleached or died, it can be very hard to find any healthy corals,' he said. The update from the WA Coral Bleaching Group said the amount of bleaching and coral death on reefs ranged from medium (11%- 30%) to extreme (greater than 90%) across systems up to 1,500km apart. The worst-hit area was the Rowley Shoals, Gilmour said – a group of three remote reefs that had previously escaped the effects of global heating and had been a 'hope spot' for many scientists. 'The first time reefs bleach badly, the mortality tends to be quite high,' he said. Throughout the heatwave, scientists were monitoring a metric over reefs known as Degree Heating Weeks – a measure of accumulated heat stress. Gilmour said as a general rule, 8DHWs is high enough to cause some corals to die. During the marine heatwave, most WA reefs from Ningaloo north reached at least 15 DHWs, with some reefs off the Pilbara coast hitting 30DHWs. 'At pretty much all of these reefs, it was the highest heat stress ever recorded,' he said. The marine heatwave in WA coincided with the most widespread global bleaching event on record that started in January 2023 and is ongoing. More than 80% of the planet's reefs have seen heat stress high enough to cause corals to bleach. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Previous marine heatwaves in WA have been associated with La Niña patterns of ocean heat in the Pacific that see warmer waters pulled south by a current that sweeps down the coast. This extreme marine heatwave in WA happened in the absence of a La Niña. 'We still got this dramatic warming, so we are only left with climate change [as a cause] after that,' said Dr Alistair Hobday, a marine heatwave expert at the CSIRO. Dr Claire Spillman, a member of the bleaching group from the Bureau of Meteorology, said the summer of late 2024 and early 2025 recorded the warmest ocean temperatures for the Australian region on a record going back to 1900. 'The increased frequency of extreme and record-breaking ocean temperatures is associated with global warming,' she said. The WA coral bleaching played out at the same time as significant bleaching was also hitting the Great Barrier Reef on the east coast. Scientists there have recorded the biggest annual drops in coral cover 'Climate change is driving these events, which are becoming more frequent, more intense and more widespread, giving our amazing, valuable coral reefs little time to recover,' Gilmour said. 'And they need 10 to 15 years to recover fully. 'The key to helping coral reefs survive under climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Caravan family witness 'lucky moment' off Aussie coast: 'Pretty incredible'
A family travelling the country in their caravan were treated to an incredible display off the Australian coast right from their campsite. Renee Pike and her husband David, who have spent the past several months camping in Western Australia's Ningaloo region with their two children, aged 6 and 3, couldn't believe their eyes when reviewing drone footage of a reef manta ray cruising right by their home on wheels. Mum Renee, who witnessed the incredible moment at Winderabandi Point in June, told Yahoo News the encounter was "pretty incredible". "We saw the manta cruise past our camp," she explained, adding they decided to throw up their drone to get a closer look. The stunning creature was gliding through the water before it suddenly breached the surface and "did a backflip" in the water. "I've never seen that before," Renee said. She added that the manta captured in the footage is the "biggest" they've spotted during their extensive travels. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Australia's Coral Coast (@australiascoralcoast) Why do manta rays do backflips? Ningaloo is well known for its remarkable marine megafauna, including manta rays, whale sharks, humpback whales, turtles, and even the elusive dugong. Despite countless daily encounters on the reef, Dr Amelia Armstrong, principal researcher at the Ningaloo Manta Project, described what Renee and David saw as a very "lucky moment". While breaches themselves aren't rare, she said catching one on film is "less common". Dr Armstrong said that because the manta's cephalic lobes, the lobes near her mouth, are rolled up, it suggests she wasn't feeding. "With no other animals visible nearby, I think it's likely she was trying to shake off a remora (sucker fish), which often cling to large marine animals and can irritate the skin," she said. Even more amazingly, Dr Armstrong was able to identify the animal in Renee and David's footage as a manta nicknamed The Hoff. The stunning creature was first photographed in Coral Bay in 2005, and has been spotted more than 50 times around the region since then. The belly markings of a manta ray remain unchanged throughout its lifetime, as a useful and unique 'fingerprint' for identification. The Ningaloo Manta Project's citizen science has collected thousands of photos over the years, helping scientists keep track of the rays that call the Ningaloo home. "Every sighting adds a valuable piece to the puzzle of understanding these animals and their mysterious lives along our coastline," Dr Armstrong said. "It's fantastic to see people sharing their footage and stories as it helps us learn more to better protect these beautiful animals, and can inspire others to care." Local residents amazed by incredibly rare sight off Aussie coast Tourists 'totally outraged' by fishing crew's confronting act at sea Incredible event 'triggered by full moon' off famous Aussie coast Family's incredible caravan adventure around Australia Renee and her family, originally from the Gold Coast, have been traveling full-time since March 2023 and show no signs of stopping. While the West Coast holds a special place in their heart for its rugged terrain and incredible reef wildlife, spending two months in Tasmania was another highlight. Renee runs her consulting agency, helping female-founded businesses while on the road. David, previously a construction worker, enjoys quality time with the kids. Travelling around the country has been fantastic for "unplugging from the grind" and realising that "there is another way to do life" for Renee and her family. "It's a really cool way of life," she said, adding that meeting like-minded families has been a highlight of their travels. "It takes a lot to leap, but it kind of shakes you up a bit and makes you realise what's important," she said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Sinister twist in the hunt for missing German backpacker, two weeks after she vanished without trace in the remote WA outback
The search for missing German backpacker has taken a chilling new turn after a burnt-out van matching the description of her vehicle was reportedly discovered near a remote WA campsite. Caroline Wilga, 26, who has spent two years backpacking around Australia working at mine sites and farms, was last seen with the van on CCTV at a service station in Toodyay, northeast of Perth, on June 28. She made contact with friends the next day while travelling near Beacon, in WA's remote Wheatbelt region but then vanished without a trace. The burnt-out van, stripped of licence plates, was spotted by local man Geoff Roberts in Gnaraloo, on the Ningaloo coast, around 11 hours from Ms Wilga's last known location. Mr Roberts raised the alarm after seeing the call for information on the Western Australia Police Force Facebook page. 'Very similar vehicle to this one burnt out between Gnaraloo 3 Mile camp and the homestead. Plates have been removed,' he posted on social media, tagging in WA Police. Police are yet to confirm the link to the missing backpacker, but its discovery has deepened fears for Ms Wilga, who has not been seen or heard from in 12 days. She was believed to be travelling in the black and silver 1995 Mitsubishi Delica van with WA licence plates 1HDS330 and a distinctive rooftop tent. Police are yet to confirm the find, but the sinister claim has only deepened fears for the young woman, who has not been seen or heard from in 12 days. Her phone has since been switched off, and investigators say all contact stopped suddenly. Homicide detectives have now joined the case, though police say it is not officially a murder investigation 'at this point.' 'We are very concerned for her welfare,' WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch told reporters. 'They are investigating - not that it's a homicide at this point, but we want our very best capabilities to investigate something that is very concerning to us.' The WA Police air wing has also been deployed, with land and aerial searches underway across the vast outback region. Caroline is described as having a slim build, long frizzy dark blonde hair, brown eyes, and several tattoos, including on her left arm. Wilga has not been seen or heard from since her last contact with friends in Beacon. Before she was last seen, Ms Wilga would also routinely contact her family. Police say she was believed to be travelling in a black and silver 1995 Mitsubishi Delica van with WA licence plates 1HDS330 (pictured) and a distinctive rooftop tent They last heard from her on June 18. The family hold concerns for her welfare due to the lack of 'regular communication'. Her devastated mother, Katja from Castrop-Rauxel near Dortmund, appealed to the public for help in response to a post shared on social media. 'I'm her mother and need her help, as I can't do much from Germany,' she commented on a social media post. 'Carolina is still sorely missed. If anyone has any information, please contact the police. Please keep your eyes open!' Police are urging anyone with information or dashcam footage from the Beacon area or northeast Wheatbelt between June 29 and July 4 to come forward.
