Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Lady Elliot Island, the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, considered a beacon of coral reef hope in the face of climate change, is teeming with life underwater. Bigeye trevally, also called jacks, are frequently seen schooling here. 

This protected site is named for its diversity of coral formations. Corals form different shapes depending on their environment. They may be flattened in a high energy surf zone, be structured like a column in a channel with moderate current flow or form giant elevated tables in a calm, inner lagoon. 

Little is known about the population of Dwarf Minke Whales which visit the Great Barrier Reef each winter. Queensland is the only place in the world where special ecotourism operations allow humans to get close enough to these whales whilst in the water. 

Operation Crayweed is bringing back crayweed to Sydney Coast, a Mission Blue Hope Spot. Crayweed, a locally extinct seaweed species, is transplanted onto mesh mats allowing it to reproduce and settle onto surrounding bare rocks and provide new habitat for a diverse range of marine creatures.

Whalebone is a dive site in the heavily protected South Muiron Conservation Area, named after a whalebone that has now been washed away, grown over, or reabsorbed into the fabric of the reef.

Located within the highest protection zone of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Lady Elliot Island is a haven for manta rays. There is still so much to learn about these intriguing and lesser-known giants of the sea. 

In 2016, the Great Barrier Reef suffered unprecedented mass coral bleaching as part of the Third Global Coral Bleaching Event. An estimated 30% of the Reef died as a consequence of our ocean overheating due to carbon emissions.

Julian Rocks (local Arakwal aboriginal name, Nguthungulli) is an impressive rock formation 2.5 kilometres off the shore of Byron Bay, Australia’s most easterly mainland point.

The Great Barrier Reef contains the world’s largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of molluscs, and holds great scientific interest as the habitat of threatened species such as the dugong and the green turtle - three pictured here - can you find them?

‘Fale Bommie’ is a huge Porites coral discovered by Fale Tuilagi in the ‘Valley of the Giants’ within the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. Measuring in at 41 metres in circumference, and 7 metres high, this ancient giant is considered one of the largest corals on the planet. 

This UNESCO World Heritage site contains the largest barrier reef in the Northern Hemisphere. The system illustrates a classic example of reef types through fringing, barrier and atoll, and its seven interconnected marine protected areas provide a haven for threatened species. 

With 600 species of coral and more than 1,300 species of coral reef fish, Raja Ampat, considered the epicentre of the Coral Triangle, has the highest level of marine biodiversity in the world. 

Former commercial fisherman and tropical fish collector, Ken Nedimyer is one of today’s pioneers of coral reef restoration, harvesting and replanting corals in the hope of bringing endangered coral reefs back to life, and sharing his knowledge around the world.

The USAT Liberty, an ex-American cargo ship, rests just off a rocky Tulamben beach in the northeast of Bali. The vessel was torpedoed by a Japanese sub in the Lombok Strait in 1942 but it did not sink.  It made it to Tulamben where it remained beached until Mount Agung erupted in 1963.

The world-famous Blue Hole is a near-perfect circular expanse of sapphire water nearly 300 metres wide, located within the Belize Barrier Reef System. It was created by geological forces over 10,000 years ago.

If you see a dolphin around Fernando de Noronha you are pretty much guaranteed it will be a spinner dolphin. Small and sleek creatures, they are famous for their spinning, acrobatic aerial displays, sometimes achieving up to seven rotations in one performance.

Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978 and situated in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 kilometres from the South American continent, the 19 islands and surrounding marine reserve that make up the Galápagos Islands are referred to as a unique ‘living museum and showcase of evolution’.

Mola mola (a.k.a ocean sunfish) is the heaviest bony fish in the world, with adults weighing up to 2,000 kilograms. They can measure 3 metres in length and 4 metres from tip to tip. These elusive giants are generally solitary and pelagic, spending much of their time at depth ranging from 200–600 metres. 

When corals are stressed by changes in their environment, such as an excessively warming ocean, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues that give them their colour. This causes them to turn completely white. The white is in fact their skeletons revealed hrough their now-translucent flesh.

The zooxanthellae, the algae present in the tissues of corals, contain a pigment called chlorophyll which gives the coral not only food, but it's colour. Corals have the ability to change their colour to adapt to different light conditions and water temperature.