A DEATHLY PALLOR: More than half of the northern Great Barrier Reef’s corals, such as those at this Lizard Island site, have succumbed to bleaching, a loss of their algal symbionts that leaves them vulnerable to infection.XL CATLIN SEAVIEW SURVEY
The Great Barrier Reef stretches more than 2,300 kilometers along Australia’s northeast coastline, from north of Bundaberg, Queensland, to the far corner of the continent, just south of Papua New Guinea. As the world’s largest natural structure (visible from space), the reef is bursting with a diversity and abundance of life unlike anywhere else on Earth. More than 1,600 species of fish dart in and out of the calcium carbonate structures created by the system’s 450 different types of coral. Thousands of species of sea stars, urchins, worms, clams, and other invertebrates live on, in, and around the reef, which is also home to 6 of the world’s 7 sea turtle species and 14 species of sea snake. In addition, the Great Barrier Reef supports ...
