Color explosion as barrier reef multiplies

The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is playing in an explosion of colour. On Tuesday night, researchers found that the corals send sperm and eggs into the Pacific Ocean to multiply. The play lasts for two to three days.

The reef consists of a network of 2,500 reefs of 348,000 square kilometers. Two-thirds of corals have been damaged by coral bleaching caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and 2020.

“It’s gratifying to see the reef come to life,” says Gareth Phillips, a marine scientist at Reef Teach, a company that works in tourism and education.

He says the play is proof that the reef’s ecological functions are intact after a recovery phase of just over a year and a half.

“The reef has gone through its own problems just like we all have, but it can still answer – and that gives us hope. I think we all need to focus on the successes as we come out of the pandemic,” Phillips said.