{"id":263761,"date":"2023-06-25T12:21:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T10:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=263761"},"modified":"2023-06-25T12:21:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T10:21:05","slug":"invitation-to-visit-mass-coral-bleaching-and-see-the-fishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=263761","title":{"rendered":"Invitation to Visit Mass Coral Bleaching, and see the Fishes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"392\" data-attachment-id=\"263775\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263775\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?fit=1875%2C1016&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1875,1016\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?fit=723%2C392&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?resize=723%2C392&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263775\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?resize=1024%2C555&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?resize=300%2C163&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?resize=768%2C416&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?resize=1536%2C832&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?resize=1200%2C650&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?w=1875&amp;ssl=1 1875w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?w=1446&amp;ssl=1 1446w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"http:\/\/jennifermarohasy.com\"><strong>jennifermarohasy.com<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jennifermarohasy.com\/author\/jennifer\/\">jennifer<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"263763\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263763\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?fit=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1365\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Lot-HumpHeads221A0677-copy.webp?w=1446&amp;ssl=1 1446w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u2019t think he has ever been there \u2013 not once. But he has an opinion about the Great Barrier Reef. Last time I looked more than 111K of his followers (after just a few hours of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xSCTuCp8pOA\">it being being posted<\/a>) were regurgitating the nonsense message that, of course, the Great Barrier Reef is stuffed, and, of course, Peter Ridd is a stooge of the sugar cane farmers \u2014 and also big tobacco. There are hundreds of congratulatory comments, following&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xSCTuCp8pOA\">this short YouTube<\/a>, confirming, what I already knew, that most of us here in Australia have become useful idiots. In political jargon, a useful idiot is a term used to reference a person perceived as propagandising for a cause\u2014particularly a bad cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Too many Australians, whether young or old, voting Labor, Greens, Liberal or Teal, are mostly abrogating their capacity for reason in favour of being fashionable. It doesn\u2019t have to be this way. It could be different, especially if the Jordan Shanks amongst us took a little bit of time to check their facts first. Nobody much does that anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I sent Jordan Shanks the following short note by email yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">friendlyjordies@protonmail.com<br><strong>Dear Friendly Jordie,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve just watched your episode about the Riddler and the Reef. I was hoping to see you in the water with some corals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[I should have written with some sharks.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What about you come see, with me? We could visit the epicentre of the most recent mass coral bleaching, John Brewer Reef. We could go snorkelling together, over the reef crest. You could see for yourself, the state it is in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was reported by Graham Readfearn in The Guardian as the worst of the worst bleached, and then there were the official aerial surveys that also reported on the bleaching. Last year, there was even the United Nation\u2019s UNESCO people who visited \u2013 but not John Brewer Reef. They said it was all dead and dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"937\" data-attachment-id=\"263764\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263764\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Map-768x995-1.webp?fit=768%2C995&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,995\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0Map-768&amp;#215;995-1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Map-768x995-1.webp?fit=723%2C937&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Map-768x995-1.webp?resize=723%2C937&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Map-768x995-1.webp?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Map-768x995-1.webp?resize=232%2C300&amp;ssl=1 232w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">This map was being promoted through March and April 2022 as showing the Great Barrier Reef suffering from mass coral bleaching with the impression that most of the coral was going to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But guess what: the assessment team never actually visited any of the reefs that were reported as bleached\/dead and dying. The experts relied for their stories about the bleaching from the flybys that score the state of the corals out an aeroplane window from an altitude of 150 metres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve tried that. You can\u2019t see much.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/jennifermarohasy.com\/2022\/11\/a-note-on-obfuscation-the-2022-climate-report-and-my-latest-film\/\">To know the state of the corals you need to get in and under-the-water.<\/a>&nbsp;Come see, with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve been out to John Brewer a few times and under-the-water, and even made a short under-water documentary film showing the corals up close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can watch the film here,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/775205373\">https:\/\/vimeo.com\/775205373<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bleached Colourful - Part 1\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/775205373?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"723\" height=\"407\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, of course, it is never the same as seeing with your own eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"263765\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263765\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/01-120M-DJI_0397-768x512-1.webp?fit=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,512\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"01-120M-DJI_0397-768&amp;#215;512-1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/01-120M-DJI_0397-768x512-1.webp?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/01-120M-DJI_0397-768x512-1.webp?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263765\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/01-120M-DJI_0397-768x512-1.webp?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/01-120M-DJI_0397-768x512-1.webp?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">The corals at John Brewer Reef as filmed, underwater and from a drone at 5, 10,20,40 and 120 metres altitude in early April 2022 \u2013 when this reef was being reported as the epicentre of the sixth mass coral bleaching. Contrary to the media headlines, there was good coral cover and the coral was colourful and healthy at John Brewer Reef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"263767\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263767\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-361.png?fit=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,512\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image-361\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-361.png?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-361.png?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-361.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-361.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"263768\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263768\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-362.png?fit=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,512\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image-362\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-362.png?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-362.png?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-362.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-362.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"263769\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263769\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-363.png?fit=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,512\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image-363\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-363.png?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-363.png?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-363.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-363.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"263770\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263770\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-364.png?fit=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,512\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image-364\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-364.png?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-364.png?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-364.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-364.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Friendly Jordie, if you come see with me, I can also show you the remains of the corals that have been wilfully destroyed \u2013 by the fishes. The hungry fishes that eat all the best corals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You probably didn\u2019t know that one Humphead parrot fish will eat about six tonnes of coral in a year. Out at John Brewer reef they prefer the corals that have been newly replanted with all the government monies. So, those fishes, they are costing the Australian taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars each year, eating the corals that you and I have paid to have replanted. There&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/jennifermarohasy.com\/2022\/01\/feeding-the-fishes-a1-billion\/\">is another and bigger story in all of that<\/a>, for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You mentioned the old corals, the 500-year-old corals, in your Riddler Ridd episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was during the lockdowns in November 2020 that my dear friend, the late Rob McCulloch \u2013 phoned me, crying into his beer. He was devastated as he had a charter to pay that he had secured for Marlin fishermen and for ET (Andrew Ettiingshause) who has that TV show. But ET couldn\u2019t get across the border into Queensland because of the lockdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I suggested instead, that Rob take me out for a week looking for Porites \u2013 those 500 year old corals that are reported to all be dead because the reef is stuffed. You know the story, the popular narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be clear, the Porites are the massive, ancient bolder corals, some as big as minibuses, that have growth rings like tree rings faithfully recording the climate history of the oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well they used to. As the story goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wanted to go all the way out to Myrmidon Reef, because that is where the scientists used to go on really big ships to core the really, really old Porites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We went for a week. Dennis, Wizzy, Shaun, Stuart, me and the Skipper \u2013 Rob. [You can<a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/487043322\">&nbsp;see us here<\/a>, on the back of the Marlin fishing boat, Kiama.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am grateful for that experience. The adventure was funded by the B.Macfie Family Foundation through the Institute of Public Affairs after I put a phone call through to John Roskam. He took a risk, and believed in me when I said this was the opportunity of a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I made a film about that adventure, and it even includes Riddles Ridd \u2014 as you call him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can watch \u2018Finding Porites\u2019 here:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/766755037\">https:\/\/vimeo.com\/766755037<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We found a whole garden of Porites, under-the-water. It was the white-tipped reef shark that showed us the way. In the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You should come visit us here in Queensland, at the Great Barrier Reef and see some corals and the coral munching fishes and I\u2019ve been trying for some years now to get the experts at the Australian Institute of Marine Science to sit down in front of a camera and answer some questions about the flybys and the bleaching. I have been wanting to ask them how they reconcile the extraordinary beauty and resilience of John Brewer Reef with their nonsense maps \u2014 devoid of evidence or even photographs. How they reconcile their claims of mass coral bleaching with all the colourful fishes and corals that I can see under-the-water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe, if you, Jordan Shanks, come, they will come, we can all go. Together. Even with Riddles Ridd. To John Brewer Reef, the epicentre of the most recent much acclaimed sixth mass coral bleaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We could maybe flyby and then, the next day, go under-the-water, or at least snorkel over the reef crest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cheers, Friendly Jennie<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"542\" data-attachment-id=\"263772\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=263772\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-365.png?fit=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,576\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image-365\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-365.png?fit=723%2C542&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-365.png?resize=723%2C542&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-365.png?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-365.png?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-365.png?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-365.png?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Drs Jennifer Marohasy (aka Friendly Jennie) with Peter Ridd (aka The Riddler) having walked across a mudflat just to the south of the town of Bowen. The other side of that mudflat you will find beautiful corals, on a low tide you don\u2019t need to even get into the water. Come see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">***<br>The feature image is by Toby, and shows a school of Humphead parrot fish. These are coraliferous fish; with each Humphead eating about 6 tonnes of coral each year \u2014 a school of them (typically they hang around in groups of 30) eat about as much coral as all the coral that is replanted at great expense each year to Australian taxpayers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Too many Australians, whether young or old, voting Labor, Greens, Liberal or Teal, are mostly abrogating their capacity for reason in favour of being fashionable. It doesn\u2019t have to be this way. It could be different, especially if the Jordan Shanks amongst us took a little bit of time to check their facts first. Nobody much does that anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":263775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691820471,691818100,691820472,691819076],"class_list":["post-263761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-coral-bleaching","tag-great-barrier-reef","tag-john-brewer-reef","tag-peter-ridd","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-16Cd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":290752,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=290752","url_meta":{"origin":263761,"position":0},"title":"Skeptics visit the poster-child of severely bleached reefs, and it\u2019s just fine 18 months later\u2026","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s not an accident that\u00a0\u00a097% of Australians don\u2019t know the Great Barrier Reef is in record good health.","rel":"","context":"In \"Great Barrier Reef\"","block_context":{"text":"Great Barrier Reef","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=great-barrier-reef"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0wp2616347.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0wp2616347.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0wp2616347.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0wp2616347.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0wp2616347.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":281508,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=281508","url_meta":{"origin":263761,"position":1},"title":"Finding that Same Coral!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/02\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From Jennifer Marohasy October 2, 2023\u00a0By\u00a0jennifer I was back at John Brewer Reef yesterday looking for the same coral that was reported as badly bleached in March 2022. Do you think I could find it? Some journalists have a tendency to extrapolate from the specific to the general. For example,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Australian taxpayers\"","block_context":{"text":"Australian taxpayers","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australian-taxpayers"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0Feature-V2-Screenshot-2023-10-02-at-9.42.17-am.png?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0Feature-V2-Screenshot-2023-10-02-at-9.42.17-am.png?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0Feature-V2-Screenshot-2023-10-02-at-9.42.17-am.png?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0Feature-V2-Screenshot-2023-10-02-at-9.42.17-am.png?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0Feature-V2-Screenshot-2023-10-02-at-9.42.17-am.png?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":289282,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=289282","url_meta":{"origin":263761,"position":2},"title":"Corals\u2019 Fantastic Recovery Exonerates Skeptical Scientists\u2019 Coral Analyses!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/30\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jim Steele A coral survey ending in May 2022 found that despite decades of worrisome bleaching the northern and central Great Barrier Reef recorded their highest amount of coral cover since the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) began monitoring 37 years ago. Bleaching does not mean coral mortality.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"climate propaganda\"","block_context":{"text":"climate propaganda","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-propaganda"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/00GACXB-HbYAI6XZF.jpeg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/00GACXB-HbYAI6XZF.jpeg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/00GACXB-HbYAI6XZF.jpeg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/00GACXB-HbYAI6XZF.jpeg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":410825,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=410825","url_meta":{"origin":263761,"position":3},"title":"New Study: Great Barrier Reef Coral Cover \u2018At Its Highest Since Monitoring Began In 1985\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/29\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Another alarmist narrative debunked by observations.","rel":"","context":"In \"coral cover\"","block_context":{"text":"coral cover","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=coral-cover"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQM9lmVwAspz4hqsCH9Nem4sos3yJ0KcrwonR4iw7rJ_a9m_7SuGNKM3rcxFboAzqy1NqoJ29cZeNHzVL3qZqT_jwEAJP9x8NxD0fPlbWuLSQyIF_6UG1KKTwOcGtiLYOmKWgyfHmuAJ9mg-xByTEaUNJyWiJw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQM9lmVwAspz4hqsCH9Nem4sos3yJ0KcrwonR4iw7rJ_a9m_7SuGNKM3rcxFboAzqy1NqoJ29cZeNHzVL3qZqT_jwEAJP9x8NxD0fPlbWuLSQyIF_6UG1KKTwOcGtiLYOmKWgyfHmuAJ9mg-xByTEaUNJyWiJw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQM9lmVwAspz4hqsCH9Nem4sos3yJ0KcrwonR4iw7rJ_a9m_7SuGNKM3rcxFboAzqy1NqoJ29cZeNHzVL3qZqT_jwEAJP9x8NxD0fPlbWuLSQyIF_6UG1KKTwOcGtiLYOmKWgyfHmuAJ9mg-xByTEaUNJyWiJw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQM9lmVwAspz4hqsCH9Nem4sos3yJ0KcrwonR4iw7rJ_a9m_7SuGNKM3rcxFboAzqy1NqoJ29cZeNHzVL3qZqT_jwEAJP9x8NxD0fPlbWuLSQyIF_6UG1KKTwOcGtiLYOmKWgyfHmuAJ9mg-xByTEaUNJyWiJw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQM9lmVwAspz4hqsCH9Nem4sos3yJ0KcrwonR4iw7rJ_a9m_7SuGNKM3rcxFboAzqy1NqoJ29cZeNHzVL3qZqT_jwEAJP9x8NxD0fPlbWuLSQyIF_6UG1KKTwOcGtiLYOmKWgyfHmuAJ9mg-xByTEaUNJyWiJw.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":258256,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=258256","url_meta":{"origin":263761,"position":4},"title":"Coral Snapshot 2022-23, &amp; All the Unanswered Questions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/20\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Full marks to David Mills, writing in the Courier Mail, for asking why the government tends to bury good news reports about the Great Barrier Reef.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0JB-April2022-_LEO7407.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0JB-April2022-_LEO7407.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0JB-April2022-_LEO7407.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0JB-April2022-_LEO7407.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0JB-April2022-_LEO7407.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":276291,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=276291","url_meta":{"origin":263761,"position":5},"title":"New Studies Suggest Corals Are Rapidly Developing Tolerance To Bleaching, Heat Stress","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/29\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Scientists report a surprising coral reef resilience to bleaching, as well as a growing 0.1\u00b0C per decade heat stress tolerance. The Great Barrier Reef region has reportedly warmed by 0.8\u00b0C in the last 150 years (Page et al., 2023). This is warming rate of about 0.05\u00b0C per decade.","rel":"","context":"In \"Bleaching\"","block_context":{"text":"Bleaching","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bleaching"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1078.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1078.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1078.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1078.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1078.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Screenshot-2023-06-25-121954.png?fit=1875%2C1016&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=263761"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263777,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263761\/revisions\/263777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/263775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=263761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=263761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=263761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}