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The fourth "mass bleaching" event is ongoing in the Great Barrier Reef, says Australian Government

The reef is under immense heat stress due to climate change.

Table corals have an important role to play in reef recovery, but they're also quite vulnerable

Helping to protect them would go a long way.

Coral taller than the Empire State Building found in the Great Barrier Reef

The newly identified reef could contain many species new to science.

Help NASA save the ocean's corals by playing a new video game

A citizen science project that aims to help the world's corals.

Sick reefs that sound healthy attract back marine wildlife

Scientists installed underwater speakers in dead or dying coral which played sounds typical of healthy reefs. Wildlife soon flocked back.

How a giant mass of floating volcano rock could help the Great Coral Reef

A giant raft of light rocks is heading towards Australia -- and that's a good thing.

Climate change killed almost 90% of the baby coral in the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef's future is bleak.

Australia allows 1 million tons of sludge to be spilled into Great Coral Reef

It's one bad news after the other for the coral reef.

Great Coral Reef hit by massive surge of muddy water -- visible from satellite

This is just adding more salt to the wound.

Autonomous killer drone aims to save the Great Barrier Reef

Can we please call these things Star Destroyers? Please?

The Great Barrier Reef had 5 near-death experiences so far, but this one might be its last

The Great Barrier Reef may be facing its worse threat yet.

Marine heatwaves smothered the Great Barrier Reef -- and it won't get better

The world's largest coral system is dying, and it's all our fault.

Scientists successfully transplant coral into the devastated Great Barrier Reef

This successful first trial might one day save the reef.

Biologists discover a large blue hole in the Great Barrier Reef thanks to Google Maps

It's incredible what you can discover from your own bedroom these days.

Marine biologist finds gaping blue hole in Great Barrier Reef using Google Maps

He dived into the blue hole himself and inside found striking coral species.

Coral reefs generate $36 billion in tourism every year but we offer little in return

Millions of people enjoy diving around reefs every year.

How household vinegar could help save the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches 2,000km (1,200 miles) along the coast, is the world’s largest living ecosystem. Yet it's being threatened and every year the coral retreats at the hand of pollution, tourism, farming and pests. One such pest is the crown-of-thorns starfish which attaches itself to the coral and destroys it with its venomous thorns. Various pest control measures have been tried, but none proved more effective than injecting the animals with vinegar. James Cook University researchers tried out various concentrations of vinegar, needle size and injection locations until they found the sweet spot for a 100% kill rate within 48 hours of contact. Widespread and sustained (you have to control the starfish every year following breeding season) could thus help save the Great Barrier Reef, or at least buy time until we address the more serious causes leading to its destruction.

The star(fish) destroying robot is yellow and deadly

Picture this: A city under siege. Many of the outlying buildings are old, dry, lifeless shells of their former beauty as nearly 50 percent of the population is wiped out, consumed by ravenous invaders. And the only hope of lifting the siege lies with a poison injecting, yellow robot.

The Great Barrier Reef left out of UNESCO "in danger" list, environmental group films turtle-back video to raise awareness of the area's fragility

The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches 2,000km (1,200 miles) along the coast, is the world’s largest living ecosystem. Environmental groups are pushing to get the reef listed as “in danger” by the UNESCO, so that the Australian government would have to work harder to protect it from various dangers such as pollution, dredging, fishing and […]

Great Barrier Reef collapses at hand of Australian farmers

The Great Barrier Reef is the  the biggest single structure made by living organisms; so vast that it can be seen from space. It hasn’t been fairing too well, however, and in the past 30 years alone its surface covered by coral has been reduced to half, as reported previously by ZME. A recent study proves […]

More than half of the Great Barrier Reef has declined in the past 30 years

According to the most comprehensive study ever carried out on the World Heritage Site, findings have shown that damage caused by  storms, crown-of-thorns starfish and bleaching have resulted in more than half of the amount of coral covering reefs being cut in half since 1985 and will likely continue to decline if immediate countering steps are not made. Australia’s […]

Sadly, cryogenics may be the key to saving the Great Barrier Reef (with video)

Scientists from the United States and Australia have teamed up in a desperate attempt to find new solutions to the Great Barrier Reef problem, which threatens to go beyond the point of no return. They are currently trying to save disappearing species by freezing coral eggs and sperm, so that instead of becoming extinct, species […]