I am two dives behind, in explaining the collapse of some of the fields of Acropora spp. across the bay, at the Keppel Islands. And I am off again today, diving.
There have been phone calls, some about the Underwater Megafauna Competition, and others from those complaining about what I write – though they have never got underwater themselves.
She phoned me, yesterday, and was insisting that if I believe that John Brewer Reef will recover from cyclone Kirrily, why have I made such a fuss about the cyclone damage. (I have a blog post about the damage from Tropical Cyclone Kirrily, that I wrote immediately after I visited, CLICK HERE. )
She did not want to acknowledge that many coral reefs up and down the Queensland coast are suffering right now, if not from cyclone damage from coral bleaching. The visibility is still good, particularly at this time of year and there is still so much coral but compared to last year – there has been a collapse in coral cover at some key reef habitats across the northern, central and central Great Barrier Reef. It is a natural cycle.
I explained to her that if we are to understand the different natural phenomena that impact coral reefs sometimes very subtly, then we need to acknowledge the big and sometimes devastating events and accurately record them. I suggested that some of these may follow natural cycles, and that to be possible to forecast these cycles, first we need to have some record of them, and their impacts.
And I reiterated that it was unacceptable that the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) Long Term Monitoring Program (LTMP) that had recently undertaken yet another perimeter survey of John Brewer Reef, that the official record falsely indicated no change in coral cover since the cyclone.
The survey method was clearly not fit for purpose. Despite so much of the top of this reef being pummelled clean of coral by the cyclone, and whole sections of new growth including the massive plates that once overhung a wide crevasse being picked-up, flipped-over and now laying shattered about the reef perimeter – officially there is no record of this, that officially there has been no change in coral cover. (I also have a blog post about this, how the official survey is a perimeter survey denying damage to key habitats, CLICK HERE.)
She was not from the right of politics not sceptical of catastrophic human-caused global warming at all – rather she is from the left, and so wants to attribute any damage at the Great Barrier Reef to global warming. She wants me to acknowledge that any damage is incremental year-on-year that it is occurring slowly.
‘Did I deny this?’ she asked?
‘It is not incremental,’ I replied. ‘Rather it is cyclical I suggested. The bleaching at the bay across from where I live – at the Keppel Islands – the bleaching is catastrophic. We are fast approaching a total collapse in some fields of Acoropora spp. at places like Wreck Beach – wrecked,’ I suggested.
‘How do you know this is not attributable to fossil fuel emissions?’ she asked.
I said, ‘It was more likely a consequence of the 18.6-year lunar declination cycle that will affect sea levels and the tides.’
I went on to explain that water temperatures may remain below the regional threshold for bleaching, but in places where wave action is insignificant 40 to 75 percent of the coral heads may bleach and go on to die. This was widely reported following the 2006 bleaching – 18.6 years ago, the last summer of maximum lunar declination. Wave-washed sites, they are less likely to suffer damage, I explained.
She hung up. I think that was before I asked her to come diving with me.
