The National Coral Bleaching Taskforce conducted aerial surveys and underwater dives in 911 individual reef sites. They concluded between 60 and 100 per cent of corals were severely bleached on 316 reefs, with nearly all in the northern half of the Reef. Professor Terry Hughes, who convened the taskforce, says scientists are continuing to measure the ongoing impact of the bleaching. He points out that dead 200 year old corals will obviously not re-generate in his lifetime.

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