{"id":7295,"date":"2025-11-19T09:59:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T15:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/?p=7295"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:05:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T16:05:19","slug":"muerte-silenciosa-dos-de-cada-tres-corales-en-el-arrecife-de-ningaloo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/muerte-silenciosa-dos-de-cada-tres-corales-en-el-arrecife-de-ningaloo\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Deathly silent\u2019: two out of three corals in world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have been killed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid bg-image-ps-inherit\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Photo: Vee Brosig\/Blue Media.<\/em><\/h6>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_separator_align_center vc_sep_width_100 vc_sep_pos_align_center vc_separator_no_text vc_sep_color_grey wpb_content_element  wpb_content_element\" ><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_custom_1701133834688 vc_row-has-fill bg-image-ps-inherit\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p><strong>\u2018Deathly silent\u2019: two out of three corals in world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have been killed, scientists confirm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One expert says she is \u2018starting to visualise the point where all we have left of corals and reefs is memories\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Almost two out of three corals across popular tourism spots at the world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef died after an unprecedented marine heatwave hit the Western Australia region, scientists have said. The areas in Ningaloo\u2019s northern lagoon had undergone a \u201cprofound ecological simplification\u201d with coral species that were keystones to the habitat among those killed.<\/p>\n<p>The marine heatwave swept across the Western Australian coastline last summer and autumn, turning corals white from heat stress from Ningaloo to Ashmore reef 1,500km to the north-east.\n\nWhen corals sit in unusually warm water for too long they separate from the algae that give them much of their colour and nutrients, leaving behind a translucent flesh revealing the white skeleton behind.\n\nAbout 90% of the extra heat on the planet has been taken up by the ocean. The heating is caused when greenhouse gases are released from burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wpb_video_widget wpb_content_element vc_clearfix   vc_video-aspect-ratio-169 vc_video-el-width-100 vc_video-align-center\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_video_wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Unprecedented marine heatwave decimates corals at Ningaloo reef\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ueADMBSY5Uk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Unprecedented marine heatwave decimates corals at Ningaloo reef<\/em><\/h6>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p><strong>The bleaching was so confronting because it was so expansive<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Coral scientist Zoe Richards, an associate professor at Curtin University, had in March surveyed 1,600 individual corals at eight sites spanning 40km when the bleaching event was peaking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe bleaching was so confronting because it was so expansive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Other scientists who visited Ningaloo during the mass coral bleaching spoke of their shock at the extent of the heat and the suffering of the corals.<\/p>\n<p>When Richards, who carried out the work in partnership with the Minderoo Exmouth Research Laboratory, returned with Curtin University researcher David Juszkiewicz at the end of October, about 1,000 of the 1,600 corals she had recorded had died.<\/p>\n<p>She said: \u201cYou go in hoping the corals you saw that were partially bleached might have recovered.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately the scale tipped to mortality. Most of the data is showing that any coral that bleached in March went on to die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Incredible places\u2019 <\/strong>The areas surveyed were between the Osprey and Tantabiddi sanctuary zones and cover the northern parts of the Ningaloo lagoon that are popular with tourists, Richards said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Diving and snorkelling on these reefs, Richards said, was usually accompanied with \u201clots of popping and cracking\u201d sounds of fish and other animals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201c<strong>It was deathly silent<\/strong>she said. \u201cThe only animals that looked happy were the sea cucumbers. They are the detritus-eaters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p><strong>Fourth mass bleaching<\/strong><br \/>\nThe loss of corals at Ningaloo was part of the fourth and worst global mass bleaching event on record that exposed more than 80% of reefs in more than 80 countries to temperatures high enough to cause bleaching.<\/p>\n<p>The loss of corals at Ningaloo was part of the fourth and worst global mass bleaching event on record that exposed more than 80% of reefs in more than 80 countries to temperatures high enough to cause bleaching. Some scientists have claimed global heating has already pushed tropical coral reefs to a tipping point of long-term decline. \u201cCorals act like thermometers for the ocean,\u201d Richards said. \u201cWhen they bleach, they are sending out a clear signal that the temperature is too high. They don\u2019t talk, but they are signalling to us very clearly. We\u2019re on the brink of catastrophic ecosystem decline. This happening everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s just really depressing<br \/>\nI have devoted my whole life to coral research. I am starting to visualise the point where all we have left of corals and reefs is memories.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_empty_space\"   style=\"height: 32px\"><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div><div class=\"vc_btn3-container vc_btn3-inline vc_do_btn\" ><a class=\"vc_general vc_btn3 vc_btn3-size-md vc_btn3-shape-rounded vc_btn3-style-modern vc_btn3-color-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/nov\/19\/two-out-of-three-corals-in-world-heritage-listed-ningaloo-reef-are-dead\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\">For more information (see full article)<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid bg-image-ps-inherit\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<p><strong>Source:<\/strong><br \/>\nPress release link: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/nov\/19\/two-out-of-three-corals-in-world-heritage-listed-ningaloo-reef-are-dead?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u2018Deathly silent\u2019: two out of three corals in world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have been killed<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto \u00a9: <i>Vee Brosig\/Blue Media<\/i><br \/>\nCopyright \u00a9 2025 The Guardian. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The man, who is in a stable condition in hospital, has &#8220;potentially life-changing injuries&#8221; after the overnight attack in Garvagh, County Londonderry. He was shot in the arms and legs.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7295"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7304,"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7295\/revisions\/7304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coralmar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}