Great Barrier Reef

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Elderly Cruise Passenger Left Behind on Island Is Found Dead

Apparent search delay followed group hike on Australia's Lizard Island

(Newser) - An 80-year-old cruise ship passenger died over the weekend after she got off on an island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef and was reportedly left behind. The woman, traveling alone as part of a Coral Expeditions cruise, took part in a group hike of a steep trail on Lizard...

It's an Unwelcome First for Australia's 2 Biggest Reefs

Great Barrier and Ningaloo reefs experience mass bleaching simultaneously

(Newser) - Two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef has seen its sharpest annual decline in coral cover since records began 40 years ago, with scientists warning this iconic ecosystem may be nearing a tipping point, per the Guardian . The latest survey from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)—covering 124...

Youth Pastor Killed in Shark Attack
Youth Pastor Killed
in Shark Attack
Dec 30, 2024 1:25 PM CST

Youth Pastor Killed in Shark Attack

Australian man had been spearfishing with his family

(Newser) - An Australian youth pastor was killed Saturday in the country's first fatal shark attack of the year. Luke Walford, 40, had been spearfishing with his family near Humpy Island, at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, the BBC reports. He died a year to the day after a...

Study Warns We Could 'Witness Demise of Natural Wonder'

Authors say record-high ocean heat is putting Great Barrier Reef in danger

(Newser) - In a sea of grim stories about the health and fate of the Great Barrier Reef comes one of the grimmest: "Highest ocean heat in four centuries places Great Barrier Reef in danger." That's the title of a study published Tuesday in Nature . Researchers say they reconstructed...

Australia to UN: Don't Label Great Barrier Reef 'Endangered'

Nation's environment chief says new government is doing much better on climate change

(Newser) - Australia's environment minister said Tuesday her government will lobby against UNESCO adding the Great Barrier Reef to a list of endangered World Heritage sites, arguing that criticisms of government inaction on climate change were outdated. Officials from the UN cultural agency and the International Union for Conservation of Nature...

Coral Rebounds to Record Levels for Great Barrier Reef

Survey finds strong growth in large swaths, but also warns of vulnerability

(Newser) - News out of the Great Barrier Reef generally has been pretty bleak of late , so much so that the UN is considering listing the World Heritage Site as endangered. However, a major new survey of the ecosystem by the Australian Institute of Marine Science has welcome news for those worried...

At Great Barrier Reef, a 'Heart-Breaking' Scene

4th mass bleaching event in 6 years is confirmed

(Newser) - The Great Barrier Reef, thought to have been in recovery after three mass coral bleaching events in quick succession, has been devastated for a fourth time in six years. The Marine Park Authority has confirmed a new mass bleaching event through aerial surveys of 750 separate reefs across the 1,...

Great Barrier Reef Just 'Gave Birth'
Great Barrier Reef
Just 'Gave Birth'
in case you missed it
Nov 28, 2021 4:33 PM CST

Great Barrier Reef Just 'Gave Birth'

Mass coral spawning is a sign of hope after bleaching

(Newser) - The conditions were perfect for what ABC Australia calls "the world's biggest sex event." From one section of the 1,429 mile-long Great Barrier Reef, marine biologist Gareth Phillips described witnessing a "magical" scene "with the water like glass and beautiful light coming from the...

Australia Is Not Happy With UN Warning on Barrier Reef
UN Warning on
Great Barrier Reef
Stuns Australia
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 26, 2021 1:50 PM CDT

UN Warning on Great Barrier Reef Stuns Australia

Government to fight placement of World Heritage Site on UNESCO's 'in danger' list

(Newser) - The UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization wants the Great Barrier Reef added to a list of World Heritage Sites that are "in danger," while calling on Australia to address climate change with "accelerated action at all possible levels." Australia's government says it's...

There Hasn't Been an Ocean Find Like This in 120 Years
There Hasn't Been an Ocean
Find Like This in 120 Years
in case you missed it
Nov 1, 2020 1:30 PM CST

There Hasn't Been an Ocean Find Like This in 120 Years

Huge section of coral reef found at Great Barrier Reef is taller than Empire State Building

(Newser) - During the past year, the Schmidt Ocean Institute's Falkor ship has been trolling the waters off the coast of Australia, where it's found dozens of new species, including what may be the longest animal on Earth . Its latest surprise discovery is no less impressive: a section of coral...

News Gets Even Worse for the Great Barrier Reef
RIP, Great
Barrier Reef:
We're Just
Killing You
new study
Oct 14, 2020 5:07 PM CDT

RIP, Great Barrier Reef: We're Just Killing You

New study finds shocking coral loss over the past 2 decades

(Newser) - A new study on the Great Barrier Reef says half its corals have died over the past 20 years—and the clock is ticking, NBC News reports. Researchers in Queensland, Australia, found a drastic reduction in the size of reef coral colonies between 1995 and 2017, across nearly all species...

Bleaching Hits Great Barrier Reef Like Never Before

With warmer temperatures, deadly problem is 'more widespread than ever'

(Newser) - An aerial survey of the Great Barrier Reef shows coral bleaching is sweeping across the area off the east of Australia for the third time in five years. Bleaching has struck all three regions of the world’s largest coral reef system and is more widespread than ever, scientists from...

Shark Kills Wildlife Worker
Shark Kills Wildlife Worker
Apr 7, 2020 4:14 AM CDT

Shark Kills Wildlife Worker

He was on his way back to boat when he was fatally attacked on the Great Barrier Reef

(Newser) - A shark fatally mauled a young Australian wildlife worker on the Great Barrier Reef, officials said Tuesday. Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the 23-year-old victim worked for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the AP reports. "Once again a family out there is grieving for a young man...

Shark Bites 2 Tourists on Great Barrier Reef

One man lost a foot

(Newser) - A shark bit off a British tourist's foot and mauled another British tourist's leg on Tuesday as the men snorkeled on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, officials say. The men, aged 22 and 28, had been on a snorkeling tour in the Whitsunday Islands when they were attacked,...

Huge Raft of Pumice Is Floating in the Ocean
Huge Raft of Pumice
Is Floating in the Ocean
in case you missed it
Aug 31, 2019 2:30 PM CDT

Huge Raft of Pumice Is Floating in the Ocean

It rose up from a volcano, and might end up helping the Great Barrier Reef

(Newser) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in trouble , but the ocean itself might be sending some slow-moving relief. An enormous floating island of pumice is headed toward Australia, and it could deliver new marine life to the endangered reef, reports CNN . The odd development is the result of an underwater...

You Can Now Get a Ride-Share to the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
Gets a 'ScUber'
May 27, 2019 7:55 AM CDT

Great Barrier Reef Gets a 'ScUber'

Uber is branching out way down under

(Newser) - Your submarine ride-share awaits in Queensland, Australia. Thanks to Uber, what's touted as the world's first submarine ride-share launches Monday, offering users a one-hour submarine tour of the Great Barrier Reef, as well as free pickup and a return helicopter or pontoon trip, per CNN . The "once-in-a-lifetime...

Shark Kills Tourist on Great Barrier Reef

It was 3rd attack in area in 7 weeks

(Newser) - A shark has killed a man in an island harbor on Australia's Great Barrier Reef where two tourists were mauled on consecutive days in September. The spate of attacks has left authorities struggling to explain an apparent escalation in danger in an internationally-renowned vacation destination, the AP reports. The...

'Mass Mortality' Hits Great Barrier Reef, Shocks Scientists

'Unprecedented bleaching event' killed off half the coral there over 2 years

(Newser) - An "unprecedented" bleaching event struck the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, with perilously high temperatures affecting the 1,400-mile-long stretch of coral. The Atlantic notes we already knew that this occurred , but that the toll is just now being fully understood: It describes a new study published in the...

Australia Stands to Lose $42B With Great Barrier Reef's Ruin

Al Gore warns of 'profound impacts' globally

(Newser) - A new report finds the Great Barrier Reef is too "critical" to fail—which is a problem since it's already failing . The report from Deloitte Access Economics notes the reef—with a "total asset value" of $42 billion, almost half of which comes from tourism—is the...

This Could Be the Only Way to Save the Great Barrier Reef

Cloud brightening could cool the ocean just enough: researchers

(Newser) - You'd think the search for a solution to bleaching coral in the Great Barrier Reef would have scientists looking down into the ocean, rather than up at the sky. But clouds could be key to combating warming ocean temperatures blamed for the bleaching, say Australian researchers. They believe that...

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