A remote WA coral reef has recovered from mass bleaching in just twelve years – surprising scientists with its resilience. The study published overnight in the journal Science challenges our assumptions about reef recovery. Photos and video available and more information below.

Colour-changing dragons will reveal their secrets in a half million dollar study launching on Sunday. The tricks of bearded dragons could change medicine and solar energy.   [continue reading…]

Can we save the Reef by controlling crown of thorns starfish?

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years. The loss was due to storm damage (48%), crown of thorns starfish (42%), and bleaching (10%) according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today by researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville and the University of Wollongong. [continue reading…]

Footage is available online at

http://www.aims.gov.au/docs/research/biodiversity-ecology/threats/cots.html

And high res footage for this story is available for download until 7 October here  – this is a 200 Mb .mov file available to download via YouSENDit.

To download a high-resolution version of any of the images below, click on the image to enlarge it then save the image to your computer. [continue reading…]

• The official PNAS paper is online here
• Read about the crown-of-thorns starfish here
• Read about the Great Barrier Reef here
• Read about the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) here

[continue reading…]