‘Underwater Bushfire’ Devastating Reefs yet to Let Up

This underwater photo taken on April 5, 2024, shows fish swimming near bleached and dead coral around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, located 270 kilometres (167 miles) north of the city of Cairns in Australia. David Gray/AFP via Getty Images

Australian corals reefs have been pummelled by unprecedented heat stress up to two times worse than has ever been recorded.

Roughly half of Western Australia’s (WA) coastline, including the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ningaloo, has been enduring a reef-threatening marine heatwave and molecular ecologist Kate Quigley warns higher temperatures are yet to subside.