Great Barrier Reef condition again...

[NevilleCat]

Hi, hopefully it won't go off the rails and get closed like the other GBR threads, but some first hand accounts by well respected Aussie cruising couple Christine Danger and Wade Bishop in their blog "Sv Anui".
They are generally pretty circumspect in their blog when detailing how they find the condition of the various reefs but in the latest one there is a sense of frustration and, yes, despair with the state of the inshore reefs.

http://sv-anui.com/2021/11/05/a-matt...ife-and-death/

[Reefmagnet]

Carrying on like wannabe eco-warriors and declaring "When will our local and global priorities change? When will we shift our focus to the real crisis of our time?" whilst prancing around on a 52 foot cat fitted with recently installed twin 54hp engines kind of nulls the message somewhat.

[NevilleCat]

Well, if you think about it, it doesn't really null the actual message, but I can see the temptation for that kind of comeback.
No matter what you may think of their credibility to make comment on it, their actual observations are still worth something I think.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by NevilleCat

No matter what you may think of their credibility to make comment on it, their actual observations are still worth something I think.

The observations are worth something, the conclusions drawn from them less so. Out of the 4 major reasons they cite for the phenomenon only one is without doubt something human made. I agree with polluting the oceans less is a good idea.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by NevilleCat

Well, if you think about it, it doesn't really null the actual message, but I can see the temptation for that kind of comeback.
No matter what you may think of their credibility to make comment on it, their actual observations are still worth something I think.

Call me cynical but I'm pretty sure if the waters were milky, all fringing reefs seriously damaged and COT's rampant we'd have heard about it in the Guardian by now, well before it was posted on a blog just happening to coincide with COP26 which other cynics might conclude was timed for the purpose of driving up blog traffic.


In my observation, things haven't got worse, they've got better in the last five years. The el Nino of 2016 and Cyclone Debbie did some serious damage to the reef in spots, especially the latter around the Whitsundays region, some of which is still evident today. But the reef hasn't declined since then and even most of the regular doomsayers have conceded that there has been better than expected recovery occurring.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Carrying on like wannabe eco-warriors and declaring "When will our local and global priorities change? When will we shift our focus to the real crisis of our time?" whilst prancing around on a 52 foot cat fitted with recently installed twin 54hp engines kind of nulls the message somewhat.

Kind of a non-response this, isn't it?

From afar, the GBR state seems to come down to: who do you trust to report on it? AIMS, GBRMPA, locals, visitors, Trip Advisor, Peter Ridd? Or, does one's political loyalty or business interests direct the response? Is it really bad and the GBR is dying, or is it just cyclical small injuries that the reef recovers from? Or somewhere in between?

I'm not there, and I don't know who to believe. Watching with interest.

[GordMay]

Coral bleaching impacts 98% of Great Barrier Reef: study

A study [1] released by an Australian university, looking at multiple catastrophes hitting the Great Barrier Reef, has found, for the first time, that only 2% of its area has escaped bleaching since 1998, then the world's hottest year on record.
If global warming is kept to 1.5 degrees, the maximum rise in average global temperature, that was the focus of the COP26 United Nations climate conference, the mix of corals on the Barrier Reef will change, but it could still thrive, said the study's lead author, Professor Terry Hughes, of the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

A separate study [2], also in Current Biology, estimates the number of baby corals being produced across the reef had dropped by 71%, since the first mass bleaching event in 1998.

More about ➥ https://phys.org/news/2021-11-coral-...rier-reef.html

[1]“Emergent properties in the responses of tropical corals to recurrent climate extremes" ~ by Terry P.Hughes et al

Highlights
• Sequences of climate-driven disturbances have unexpected emergent properties
• Thermal thresholds for coral bleaching vary depending on interactions among events
• Repeat episodes of extreme temperatures create and later reduce spatial refuges
• Shrinking return times between disturbances are eroding ecological resilience.

[1] ➥ https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...1?dgcid=author

[2] “Cumulative bleaching undermines systemic resilience of the Great Barrier Reef” ~ by Mandy W.M. Cheung et al
➥ https://www.cell.com/current-biology...21)01346-4.pdf

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Kind of a non-response this, isn't it?

From afar, the GBR state seems to come down to: who do you trust to report on it? AIMS, GBRMPA, locals, visitors, Trip Advisor, Peter Ridd? Or, does one's political loyalty or business interests direct the response? Is it really bad and the GBR is dying, or is it just cyclical small injuries that the reef recovers from? Or somewhere in between?

I'm not there, and I don't know who to believe. Watching with interest.

What can I say? I know the area well, especially the Whitsundays and I can say the fringing reefs there aren't as good as they were 10 years ago because in March 2017 a dirty great big cyclone passed slowly overhead and did a lot of damage which, although recovering, is still bearing some scars.



But anyone trying to judge the turbidity by observation has no clue what they're talking about. I've already mentioned that the big tidal range and tidal currents paralleling the coast stir up sediment in the relatively shallow waters, but there is also another factor at play and that is winds. Strong trade winds will also murk it up. As will prolonged rain. The water also gets a lot of this brown algae gunk which coats the surface of the water at times that can be so thick it's like sailing through mud. It's impossible to compare from memory varying degrees of murkiness without some kind of standard reference. However, it isn't that uncommon to be in a couple of metres of water and not see the bottom which to a visitor from one of the latte strip suburbs of the big cities probably does seem unusual.



And "serious damaged" fringing reef to 30nm offshore is also way off the mark. The pictures of the dead reef on the blog show broken coral. This is caused by either cyclone damage or dragging anchor chains or excessive enthusiasm from the tourists. I will admit it has been a couple of weeks since I've been out, but the coral less than a mile of the coast was plenty healthy back then best I can tell. Maybe I just got lucky, who knows?


And I don't really know about the starfish, I've never really seen any around my haunts.

[leandroflaherty]

I dont have the link handy, but the last report I saw on the great barrier reef from a credible scientific report was surprisingly and overwhelmingly positive. The reef has been doing well recently.

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by NevilleCat

Hi, hopefully it won't go off the rails and get closed like the other GBR threads, but some first hand accounts by well respected Aussie cruising couple Christine Danger and Wade Bishop in their blog "Sv Anui".
They are generally pretty circumspect in their blog when detailing how they find the condition of the various reefs but in the latest one there is a sense of frustration and, yes, despair with the state of the inshore reefs.

http://sv-anui.com/2021/11/05/a-matt...ife-and-death/

Sounds like they were dangling their feet during the annual coral spawning event😳

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Kind of a non-response this, isn't it?

From afar, the GBR state seems to come down to: who do you trust to report on it? AIMS, GBRMPA, locals, visitors, Trip Advisor, Peter Ridd? Or, does one's political loyalty or business interests direct the response? Is it really bad and the GBR is dying, or is it just cyclical small injuries that the reef recovers from? Or somewhere in between?

I'm not there, and I don't know who to believe. Watching with interest.

Believe Peter Ridd. 👌

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

What can I say? I know the area well, especially the Whitsundays and I can say the fringing reefs there aren't as good as they were 10 years ago because in March 2017 a dirty great big cyclone passed slowly overhead and did a lot of damage which, although recovering, is still bearing some scars.



But anyone trying to judge the turbidity by observation has no clue what they're talking about. I've already mentioned that the big tidal range and tidal currents paralleling the coast stir up sediment in the relatively shallow waters, but there is also another factor at play and that is winds. Strong trade winds will also murk it up. As will prolonged rain. The water also gets a lot of this brown algae gunk which coats the surface of the water at times that can be so thick it's like sailing through mud. It's impossible to compare from memory varying degrees of murkiness without some kind of standard reference. However, it isn't that uncommon to be in a couple of metres of water and not see the bottom which to a visitor from one of the latte strip suburbs of the big cities probably does seem unusual.



And "serious damaged" fringing reef to 30nm offshore is also way off the mark. The pictures of the dead reef on the blog show broken coral. This is caused by either cyclone damage or dragging anchor chains or excessive enthusiasm from the tourists. I will admit it has been a couple of weeks since I've been out, but the coral less than a mile of the coast was plenty healthy back then best I can tell. Maybe I just got lucky, who knows?


And I don't really know about the starfish, I've never really seen any around my haunts.

My wife studied the Crown of Thorns Starfish invasion of the Reef. 50 years ago.

[tarian]

There observations are theirs and have no real bearing on correct scientific protocols , all reefs die and re grow this is the nature of the life cycle , we know a rise in sea temp will bleach coral reefs and the organisms connected to it
But unless they have factual evidence of reef damage via a rise in temp their blog is worthless
Also cruising around indiesel engines and preaching to the many third world countries to stop using carbon is rather funny , do they understand the cost material use and chemicals in laying up fiberglass
Ofc this is an argument we get constantly ,. But the environmentalist driving a hummer to a demonstration about climate change is rather a large dose of hypocrisy no matter how others may feel about it
Climate change is happening no doubt , and no doubt man plays a part this is evident and I have no time for the troll of useless scientific papers saying otherwise
The weight of the argument is clear for all who want to see it
There can never be carbon neutral unless you ban flights , oil gas coal etc. Plastic comes form oil in some form we cannot sto the world as we know it to stop climate change we can only try and mitigate it by reducing , re planting, re wilding and us all taking small steps in our life
I have no time for those that perceive themselves as eco warriors when y can go into their house and point out vast swathes of materials and other items including clothing that has a carbon foot print
But we can try so let's do that rather than being preached to by those that think they stand higher on the morality tree
I am a medically retired Marine biologist and my Wife a Dr of Ecology for the Scottish Government and is part of COP26 ,.
We d o not know everything but we know we try but never preach , education is still the best way

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Carrying on like wannabe eco-warriors and declaring "When will our local and global priorities change? When will we shift our focus to the real crisis of our time?" whilst prancing around on a 52 foot cat fitted with recently installed twin 54hp engines kind of nulls the message somewhat.

At least it's a message worth speaking about.
The real Hypocrites cry foul ball, while circumventing political justice, and environmental reform.
We are going to learn that Nature is a force to work with... Not Against.
Most boaters know this basic rule.
SV Cloud Duster

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by leandroflaherty

I dont have the link handy, but the last report I saw on the great barrier reef from a credible scientific report was surprisingly and overwhelmingly positive. The reef has been doing well recently.

Without a valid reference, comments like these are inept.
Show something believable.
SV Cloud Duster