Reef ‘may take decades to repair’

Ian K    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, ash, sailingbreaks, scubadivingholidays, Tribe Sailing Blogs     australasia and pacific, australia, coral, great barrier reef, Scuba Diving, snorkelling

People keen on scuba diving and snorkelling while on a yacht charter in Australia may be interested to learn that a new report says the Great Barrier Reef in Australia will take years to fully mend following the cyclone last month.

In an article published in the Wall Street Journal, bosses at the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority said the storm caused severe damage.

Reef ecologist Paul Marshall, who coordinated the survey, said in the worst hit areas “there was hardly any coral to be found left alive”.

Photo from Flickr user: Eulinky

He added: “Big piles of coral rubble and broken plates had been ripped off the reef and tossed about or dumped at the bottom of the reef in piles. That was pretty heart-wrenching to see.”

In total, the team led by Mr Marshall surveyed 36 reefs in a 300km stretch of the reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is the only living organism visible from space, and at 348,000 sq km the reef is larger than the UK and Ireland combined. It is made up of more than 3,000 reefs and 900 coral islands stretching along the north-eastern coast of Australia.

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