Great Barrier Reef

The Australian Institute of Marine Science recently released its annual survey of coral on the Great Barrier Reef. It shows spectacularly good results. For all three major regions of the reef, once data uncertainties are considered, there has never been more coral since records began in the mid-1980s. This despite three supposedly catastrophic and unprecedented hot water bleaching events in

Scientists are collecting coral spawn to regrow dead parts of the Reef (see links below). The idea that the reef, which is as big as Germany, can be replanted this way indicates that the scientist might be becoming detached from reality. It is one thing to plant some corals on a few square meters, but there is no possibility that

Coral reefs can be messy, and so can court cases. And so it is with the case of Peter Ridd, sacked by James Cook University because he exercised his intellectual freedom. The only thing that is neatly settled from this case is apparently ‘the science’, never mind that this is only because anyone who publicly disagrees with it is censored

I lent my underwater camera (Olympus TG-6) to a dear friend who recently visited Lady Elliot Island at the Great Barrier Reef. She came over last Sunday to return the camera, and to show me some of her photographs. My favourite is of the Parrot fish just beyond the magenta-coloured corals, shared above. Over the ledge the water is deeper,

Everyone loves the Great Barrier Reef, particularly its corals. Everyone knows that a reef has different species of coral. But how many species should an average inshore reef have? How many corals are there at Pixie Reef, which is so close to the city of Cairns. Such inshore reefs are apparently in terminal decline. Flying at 150 metres altitude above

A new paper from Dr John Abbot, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, reveals that records from living and fossilised corals show natural variations in temperature stretching back thousands of years. Dr Abbot urged Australia’s Government-funded research institution to resume the program of coring corals and publication of trend data that appeared to cease in the early 2000’s,

A new paper from Dr Jennifer Marohasy has tackled four big myths that have taken hold in Great Barrier Reef research, and in so doing has highlighted the importance of the criticisms of that research made by Peter Ridd. According to Dr Marohasy, a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Pubic Affairs, academic freedom will be the central issue at

This morning, Peter Ridd’s legal team will be asking the High Court to hear his appeal against his sacking by James Cook University. The High Court does not agree to hear most cases. They consider cases that have a wider legal implication. His legal team continue to focus on the academic/intellectual freedom clauses in most university enterprise agreements and on

Late last year, I went on an expedition in search of a type of very old coral known as massive Porites. Stuart, Shaun and I dived five very different coral reefs between Cairns and Townsville. The first was an inshore fringing coral reef to the leeward side of High Island. High Island is close to the Australian mainland, and not

It has always been the case that the individual is expected to conform and that there is hierarchy within myths. Myths are of course traditional stories, often explaining a natural phenomenon typically involving supernatural beings or events. Of course, most people, most of the time, are so emersed (and kept so busy) within the established hierarchy and the myth, that