“It felt like I was diving in a graveyard.”
Understanding what the predicted mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef amidst the upcoming El Niño means for Australians.
When you think of beach getaways, snorkelling and diving tours, you picture vibrant, lively reefs, white sandy beaches, clear blue water.
What if that may not be the case for the magnificent Great Barrier Reef off the coast of North-East Australia in the near future?
The weather across the world is going haywire, with natural disasters leaving many people stranded, destroying infrastructure and taking lives.
Summer is coming, and so is the ‘El Niño’ event.
The Science Behind It All
Image Source: Marta Panero
'El Niño’ signifies the warming of central and eastern tropical Pacific. This phenomenon exists alongside its cooler counterpart, ‘La Niña’, within the global climate system. An incoming ‘El Niño’ event means lesser rainfall and warmer temperatures, amongst other less than ideal circumstances. This also means that the temperature of the waters surrounding Australia increase.
A prolonged increase in water temperatures can be fatal for the coral reefs around Australia, particularly the Great Barrier Reef.
To the everyday Australian, science in the underwater world is a foreign topic that many would not bat an eye towards.
Yet, the Reef is an important part of the ecosystem that Australia cannot afford to lose.
This is the science, concerns and potential solutions the plausible future of the Great Barrier Reef may face, broken down into layman terms.
Image Source: Bureau of Meteorology
Image Description: Australia rainfall graph, Australia temperature graph
An increase in temperature beyond the usual would cause the corals in the Great Barrier Reef stress, and depending on their resilience to heat, they may begin to bleach and eventually die if they fail to recover.
Corals play an essential role in the Reef and losing corals would result in a decrease in the diversity of marine life.
“If an ecosystem is diverse, there is a reason why it is diverse. It all works together to sustain different species,” explains Marta Panero, an avid diver and marine scientist. Marta currently works as a social media and outreach communicator with CoralWatch, a non-for-profit citizen science programme affiliated with the University of Queensland.
One may argue that the mass bleaching event is only predicted, and not certain, and the experts agree.
Image Source: Victor Huertas
When asked what the impact of another mass bleaching event of such scale will be for the Reef, its ecosystem, the surrounding communities, and beyond, Professor David Bourne from James Cook University, responds, “We essentially don't know.”
Prof. Bourne, who specialises in reef microbiology and is a Senior Marine Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), further explains, “What's predicted is worrying in terms of the amount of heat in the system. If this becomes an intense marine heat wave and bleaching period, we may see lots of coral death and mortality associated with the reefs.”
Image Source: Victor Huertas
There has been extensive research activities happening throughout the years, one of which is the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Programme (RRAP). Dr Jenny Fong, a Griffith University postdoctoral fellow stationed with AIMS shares, “The mass bleaching event may hamper the ongoing research activities undertaken by RRAP.”
Corals used for spawning activities in reef restoration projects may be less able to reproduce and the survival of young transplanted corals is uncertain.
“There is little that can be done. Typically something like 60 percent of these corals or more might die, and that can happen over thousands of square kilometres, which has a massive shock on the ecosystem”, Professor Peter Mumby from the University of Queensland solemnly states.
Image Source: Marta Panero
Fishy Business, And It’s Ours
As a national treasure to Australia, losing the biggest reef in the world beyond recovery would lead to dire consequences not just for the ecosystem, but for us too.
With over 30 years of experience working with reefs, Prof. Mumby shares, “They play roles that benefit us, such as providing a role in coastal protection by breaking waves, providing food for fisheries, and recreational and cultural value.”
About a billion people depend on reefs for their livelihood or for their food, and there will be a direct effect on people's welfare. All the researchers, divers, tourism operators, fisheries and local communities would be left without the very thing they are working for.
For those who work closely with coral reefs, they often form personal connections with the underwater world.
Image Source: Victor Huertas
“You do get personally invested in understanding what's happening and some of the impacts that are affecting coral reefs themselves,” said Prof. Bourne, who has spent the last two decades focusing his scientific work on coral reefs. Despite there being countless existing reef restoration projects, he says restoration is “not [possible] on the scale of the Great Barrier Reef”.
For some, the underwater world is like their second home, and when your home is at risk of being destroyed, you would protect it.
Having spent the past 17 years diving amongst reefs around the world, Marta shares, “I've had the luck to see reefs in healthier conditions so being able to see this transition really made me realise that something needs to be done.”
Image Source: Miranda Fittock, Marta Panero
Get Your Fins On,
It’s Your Turn!
Image Source: Miranda Fittock
Despite how harrowing the situation may seem, there is still hope.
“I know that we can turn this stuff around, but we have to get a move on,” Prof. Mumby urges everyone to play their part in protecting the reefs.
There’s a general sentiment about climate change that not much can be done on an individual level.
“Psychology tells us that people need to find a way to engage themselves or to know that something is being done to really care about something. If they think that nothing is being done, they'd rather not think about it”, Prof. Mumby explains, unsurprised.
Image Source: Jenny Fong
It can be difficult to find individual effort purposeful.
In response, Marta shares, “There is a bit of a misconception that you can't do anything to help the reef because it's not a tangible short term effect. But, on a collective level of a thousand people instead of one, then that can actually have a long-term impact.”
From reducing the use of single-use plastics, carpooling, and being conscious of the amount of electricity you consume to being active in your community and voicing your concerns to local government representatives to push for better climate change policies, there are a multitude of ways one can contribute.
There are also many reef-related initiatives available for individuals of all walks of life.
Image Source: Jenny Fong
In 2018, Prof. Bourne led the first ‘Recovery of The Great Barrier Reef’ expedition in collaboration with EarthWatch, an international non-for-profit organisation focusing on the environment.
The expedition aims to remove macroalgae in hopes of aiding in coral recovery, and reef monitoring. The citizen science aspect runs thrice a year, for a span of five days on Magnetic Island.
As of today, the expedition has seen over 150 participants, and has expanded to 24 experimental plots from its original six. The expedition took a pause during the Covid-19 pandemic but has since resumed. The most recent expedition was in mid-October 2023.
“We've seen a lot of citizen science people become much more aware of their role, their footprint, ecological impact”, Prof. Bourne shares enthusiastically about the impact of the expedition. “It provides an inspiration for some people to make changes or even do something about it throughout their lives.”
Prof. Bourne recalls having a Japanese student, who initially attended the expedition with his father, return for another trip. “For example, Yuta, who's from Tokyo, Japan, wants to become a marine scientist after experiencing being on the citizen science project.”
Image Source: Hillary Smith, Miranda Fittock
If an expedition is beyond your means, there are many other citizen science programmes around.
Take The Great Reef Census for instance, a citizen science effort for surveying the Reef. You could either collect data as a snorkeler or diver or analyse images to monitor reef health. Run by the charity, Citizens of The Great Barrier Reef, you can contribute to the Census no matter where you are!
Whilst we cannot physically stop mass coral bleaching from happening, we can definitely start with simply taking an interest in the Reef and exploring initiatives with which we can contribute!
Image Source: Marta Panero
