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Lord Howe Island
April 11 , 2019
1864 days
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- The corals off Lord Howe Island, the world’s southernmost coral reef, has been hit by bleaching this year due to rising sea temperatures.
- UNESCO records the Lord Howe Island Group as a World Heritage Site of global natural significance.
- This volcanic remnant island is located in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.
Corals
- Corals are animals which live in a symbiotic relationship with microscopic algae called zooxanthellae (which live within the coral tissue).
- The zooxanthellae convert sunlight into food, providing corals with up to 90 per cent of their energy needs. They also give corals much of their colour.
Coral bleaching
- Bleaching occurs when stressful conditions, such as heat, cause this relationship to break down, resulting in the corals expelling their zooxanthellae.
- This leaves the coral tissue mostly transparent, revealing the coral's bright white skeleton.
- This loss of their symbiotic algae means bleached corals are essentially starving.
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