Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing yet another mass coral bleaching event due to heat, the country’s government confirmed Friday. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which oversees efforts to preserve and protect the reef, said a widespread bleaching event is unfolding that is “consistent with patterns of heat stress that has built up over summer.
Together with scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the agency conducted aerial surveys that covered nearly two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. These observations included more than 300 inshore, midshelf and offshore reefs, in the southern and central regions, according to the scientists.