Northern Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching damage worse, surveys suggest

By Adam Morton
Updated October 26 2016 - 8:08am, first published October 25 2016 - 10:00pm
Diver Margaux Hein surveys dead branching corals at Day Reef, near Lizard Island. Photo: Greg Torda, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Diver Margaux Hein surveys dead branching corals at Day Reef, near Lizard Island. Photo: Greg Torda, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Dead coral at Yonge reef, near Lizard Island. Photo: Greg Torda, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Dead coral at Yonge reef, near Lizard Island. Photo: Greg Torda, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Healthy reef between Mackay and Townsville escape. Photo: Tane Sinclair-Taylor, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Healthy reef between Mackay and Townsville escape. Photo: Tane Sinclair-Taylor, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Crown-of-thorns starfish attached to healthy coral on a reef between Mackay and Townsville. Photo: Tane Sinclair-Taylor, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Crown-of-thorns starfish attached to healthy coral on a reef between Mackay and Townsville. Photo: Tane Sinclair-Taylor, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Extensive bleaching of Acropora corals on the reef crest of North Direction Island, April 2016. Photo: Andrew Hoey, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Extensive bleaching of Acropora corals on the reef crest of North Direction Island, April 2016. Photo: Andrew Hoey, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Dead bleached corals on the reef crest of North Direction Island in October 2016. Photo: Andrew Hoey, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
Dead bleached corals on the reef crest of North Direction Island in October 2016. Photo: Andrew Hoey, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
A healthy southern reef. Photo: Tane Sinclair-Taylor, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies
A healthy southern reef. Photo: Tane Sinclair-Taylor, ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies

Fresh surveys of the Great Barrier Reef six months on from a mass coral bleaching have found large-scale damage north of Cairns, where a growing coral death rate due to heat stress is being exacerbated by disease and predators, scientists say.