Reef monitoring shows localised coral recovery

Marine surveys across the Coral Sea recorded localised coral recovery for the second consecutive season, with juvenile coral density on monitored reefs reaching its highest level since systematic tracking began.

Scientists attribute the rebound to two summers without mass bleaching, combined with expanded crown-of-thorns control and larval reseeding trials that appear to be establishing on damaged substrate. Recovery remains patchy, with sheltered mid-shelf reefs improving fastest.

Researchers caution that the gains are fragile: recovery windows between marine heatwaves are shortening, and a single severe bleaching event could erase much of the observed regrowth.