Great Barrier Reef bleached for unprecedented second year running A mass bleaching event is taking its toll on the Great Barrier Reef for an unprecedented second year in a row, a Queensland government agency has confirmed. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has declared widespread damage from an underwater heatwave after a single day of aerial surveys between Cairns and Townsville on Thursday. The authority’s David Wachenfeld told the ABC the survey findings “regrettably” gave the agency enough evidence to declare another mass bleaching event, following the worst to date in 2016 which killed off 22% of coral.

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