Great Barrier Reef begins to show signs of recovery from coral bleaching

One of the most popular reef spots at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia has almost fully recovered from the worst coral bleaching ever known in recent history, a NewsCorp report said on Monday.

A three-minute video clip recorded on September 2 by Quicksilver Group, a private tour operator specializing in Great Barrier Reef tours in Queensland showed several international and local tourists attesting to that fact.

Quicksilver Group's environment and compliance manager and marine biologist Doug Baird said coral on Agincourt Reef number three off Port Douglas at the Great Barrier Reef was "well in the process recovery" from a bleaching event six months ago.

"It was a very robust reef going into the bleaching event. It was healthy, the water quality was good out here," Baird said.

"In fact, it was the best-managed reef system anywhere on the planet."

"This builds up the resilience of the reef which gives it that opportunity under these natural events to actually cope and recover," he said.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority tourism and stewardship director Dr. Roger Beeden said he was aware of reports Agincourt Reef coral was recovering.

He said in-water surveys to be conducted in October would enable scientists to closely monitor the recovery and survival rates across the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

"The extent of recovery for heat-affected corals will vary across the marine park, and will largely depend on how stressed the corals were locally," Beeden said.

"On the most resilient reefs and in ideal circumstances, bleached corals can regain their color within a period of weeks to months once water temperatures return to normal."

"However, corals experiencing chronic poor water quality or other stressors are unlikely to recover within these short time frames and recovery will be impeded," he said. Enditem