Heavy Monsoon Rains Helped Great Barrier Reef Start to Recover
AIMS said hard coral rose in the north and central reef after monsoon rain lowered sea temperatures, though bleaching and starfish threats remain.
- The Australian Institute of Marine Science reported that monsoons spared the Great Barrier Reef from severe heat during the 2025-26 summer, allowing coral cover to recover in northern and central sections.
- Scientists noted these results follow significant declines from a 2024 bleaching event; a smaller 2025 bleaching event occurred when temperatures rose early in the summer, though monsoon rainfall provided relief.
- Surveys show hard coral cover on the Northern Great Barrier Reef increased from 30 per cent to 35.1 per cent, and from 28.6 per cent to 31.6 per cent in the Central Great Barrier Reef, while the Southern Great Barrier Reef decreased to 26.4 per cent.
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chief scientist Roger Beeden called the recovery an encouraging sign, saying, "We see inherent resilience, its ability to be able to recover when the time periods allow when there aren't so many pressures."
- Despite positive signs, Beeden warned that future risks from marine heat waves remain a concern, stating, "Reality of climate change is that these kinds of events are becoming more likely.
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Great Barrier Reef recovery underway thanks to late-summer monsoon
A late monsoon season earlier this year provided the Great Barrier Reef with a crucial breathing space from coral bleaching, helping the world's largest reef system begin recovering from recent damage.The rainy conditions boosted cloud cover and brought sea temperatures down, curbing both the severity and spread of bleaching during the 2025/26 summer, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science's latest annual survey.Findings from th…
Great Barrier Reef's Recovery From Bleaching is Aided by Monsoon
The world’s largest coral system, the Great Barrier Reef, suffered six mass ‘bleaching events’ between 2016 and 2025, due in part to warming oceans. Before the 1990s, any bleaching events were “exceptionally rare” along the 1,400 miles of coastline in north-eastern Australia. Now, earlier this year, a monsoon brought the Great Barrier Reef a reprieve […] The post Great Barrier Reef’s Recovery From Bleaching is Aided by Monsoon appeared first on …
A late summer monsoon has saved parts of the Great Barrier Reef from further heat pollution from Australia's east coast, as revealed by the recent annual report of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), which is an encouraging sign of recovery of the world's largest coral reef.
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Heavy monsoon rains helped Great Barrier Reef start to recover
The world's largest coral reef system stretches more than 1,400 miles off the northeastern coast of Australia.
In Australia, cooling helped the Great Barrier Reef avoid more extensive coral bleaching. The late summer monsoon brought cooling, which helped avoid further heat stress. The area of living coral cover in the north and center of the reef increased slightly.
After years of heavy bleaching there are first signs of recovery on the Great Barrier Reef. A later monsoon caused much needed cooling.
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