The ‘underwater bushfire’ cooking Australia’s reefs

Australia boasts plenty of superlatives when it comes to its natural landmarks. The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest coral reef system on the north-east coast, is rightly recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Buzzing with biodiversity, it’s a diver’s dream.

But there’s a lesser-known record breaker on the other side of the country, on Australia’s north-western coast: Ningaloo Reef.

A 14-hour drive north of Perth, Ningaloo is unique. The world’s largest fringing reef and another of Australia’s Unesco World Heritage Sites, it is home to a lush oceanic forest that spreads out along the coast for hundreds of kilometres.

From the region’s remote desert beaches, you can wade into vibrant turquoise waters and almost immediately start snorkelling in a seascape as famous for its vibrant corals as the wildlife that surrounds them – manta rays, reef sharks and whale sharks.

But this year, Ningaloo has found itself in trouble. Hit by a marine heatwave, higher water temperatures have stressed the corals and they’ve been turning white, in an effect known as ‘bleaching’. While some may recover, it’s not a given – and the damage has astounded scientists.

Not only that, but the heatwave is responsible for another, more worrying superlative. This is the first time that the reefs on both Australia’s western and eastern coasts have been bleached.

“It’s like a raging underwater bushfire that has persisted for months now, wreaking harm right along the coast,” says Paul Gamblin, who heads up the Australian Marine Conservation Society. “It’s an absolutely devastating event and people are reeling from