{"id":342898,"date":"2024-09-13T19:54:15","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T17:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=342898"},"modified":"2024-09-13T19:54:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T17:54:17","slug":"largest-coral-colony-part-2-inaugural-megafauna-expedition-september-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=342898","title":{"rendered":"Largest Coral Colony, Part 2. Inaugural Megafauna Expedition, September 2024 \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Jennifer Marohasy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0By\u00a0jennifer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we know that in the back lagoon at Myrmidon Reef there are some massive bolder corals \u2013 immovable, representing layer upon layer of calcium carbonate laid down year after year, back more than 300 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so healthy; in various shades of green and blue and, also golden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their health and size are captured in the photographs from the inaugural Great Barrier Reef Megafauna Expedition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We made it all the way to Myrmidon Reef on Friday 6th<\/sup> September and the three competition photographers \u2013 Dave Baxter, Jenn Mayes, and Laura Boderke \u2013 got measuring, with their yardsticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dave Baxter photographing his scuba buddy Kate Armstrong beside a large Porites coral colony, at Myrmidon Reef, September 6, 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Laura Boderke photographing Seb Falk above a mega Porites in the Garden of Porites, Myrmidon Reef, September 6, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each of the photographers entered more than one photograph in the first category: Largest Coral Colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I measured the height and width of the largest coral colonies from their submissions using ImageJ software and the reference within each photograph \u2013 their yardsticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenn Mayes and Laura Boderke both submitted coral colonies of the same equally large width: 3.6 metres!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Seb Falk above Laura\u2019s submission, showing the ImageJ stats in centimetres.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jenn Mayes coral colony, however, was significantly taller at 3.0 metres, while Laura Boderke\u2019s coral was squatter at 2.2 metres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The winning photograph in the category \u2018Largest Coral Colony\u2019 by Jenn Mayes with Nadine Huth above a giant Porites coral colony, Myrmidon Reef, September 6, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, the winning photograph \u2013 the largest coral colony \u2013 is awarded to Jenn Mayes.  This coral was photographed on the first dive at Myrmidon at a depth of 8 metres.  The coral measures 3.6 metres wide and 3.0 metres tall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holding the 1 metres scale above the coral colony is her scuba buddy Nadine Huth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jenn Mayes lives on Great Keppel Island. She is a Dive Master, Skipper and Photographer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Nadine Huth was scuba buddy and measure for Jenn Mayes. Nadine is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, lives in Townsville and is the Operations Manager at Adrenalin Snorkel and Dive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Acknowledgements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charter of the MV Sea Esta for the inaugural Megafauna Expedition was made possible by Sydney-based philanthropist Simon Fenwick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a challenging weather forecast Paul Crocombe skippering the MV Sea Esta got us all the way to Myrmidon Reef \u2013 with first mate, Robert Arthur also from Adrenalin Dive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photographs of the photographers and their buddies in action measuring \u2013 Jenn Mayes and Nadine Huth, Laura Boderke and Sebastian Falk, Dave Baxter and Kate Armstrong \u2013 were taken by Stuart Ireland, funded by the Institute of Public Affairs.    I was able to help organise this inaugural Megafauna Expedition thanks to the continued financial support of Perth-based philanthropist Bryant Macfie through the IPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The measure used by Nadine and Jenn, the one metre long-ruler, was made by John Abbot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our megafauna logo is the creation of Ewa Buczkowska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stuart Ireland on the bow of MV Sea Esta with Ewa and Kate, anchored not far from the Garden of Porites, Myrmidon Reef, September 6, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dave Baxter photographing his scuba buddy Kate Armstrong in front of a mega Porites in the Garden of Porites, Myrmidon Reef, September 6, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do we know that in the back lagoon at Myrmidon Reef there are some massive bolder corals \u2013 immovable, representing layer upon layer of calcium carbonate laid down year after year, back more than 300 years.<\/p>\n

And so healthy; in various shades of green and blue and, also golden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":342913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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":[691820648,691818100,691829792,691829635],"class_list":{"0":"post-342898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-coral-reefs","9":"tag-great-barrier-reef","10":"tag-megafauna","11":"tag-myrmidon-reef","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/image-281.png?fit=768%2C491&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1rcC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":342771,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=342771","url_meta":{"origin":342898,"position":0},"title":"Return to Myrmidon, Part 1. Inaugural Megafauna Expedition, September 2024","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/09\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"How is it that Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef is still one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and visible from outer space. How is it that we can revisit the corals at Myrmidon Reef \u2013 an ancient, detached platform existing beyond the barrier reef proper, exposed to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Garden of Porites\"","block_context":{"text":"Garden of Porites","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=garden-of-porites"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Feature-DSC07419.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Feature-DSC07419.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Feature-DSC07419.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Feature-DSC07419.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Feature-DSC07419.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":343604,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=343604","url_meta":{"origin":342898,"position":1},"title":"Diving the North Wall, Myrmidon Reef, Part 4. Inaugural Megafauna Expedition, September 2024","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/09\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Before the Megafauna Expedition they had never dived together, now they were a team: our \u2018North Wall\u2019 team; tasked with bringing back information about a location that had perhaps never been scuba dived before.*","rel":"","context":"In \"Coral reefs\"","block_context":{"text":"Coral reefs","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=coral-reefs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0feature-240905_MEGAF24_Myrmidon_SJIDSC07867.jpg?fit=1200%2C734&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0feature-240905_MEGAF24_Myrmidon_SJIDSC07867.jpg?fit=1200%2C734&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0feature-240905_MEGAF24_Myrmidon_SJIDSC07867.jpg?fit=1200%2C734&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0feature-240905_MEGAF24_Myrmidon_SJIDSC07867.jpg?fit=1200%2C734&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0feature-240905_MEGAF24_Myrmidon_SJIDSC07867.jpg?fit=1200%2C734&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":337247,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=337247","url_meta":{"origin":342898,"position":2},"title":"In Search of Bump Heads","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/07\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The first time I saw a group of them I was far to the east of the Great Barrier Reef, beyond Australia\u2019s continental shelf, 15 metres underwater at Bougainville Reef that rises as a platform in the northern Coral Sea.","rel":"","context":"In \"Bolbometopon muricatum\"","block_context":{"text":"Bolbometopon muricatum","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bolbometopon-muricatum"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Tobi-221A0677-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Tobi-221A0677-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Tobi-221A0677-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Tobi-221A0677-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Tobi-221A0677-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":317694,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=317694","url_meta":{"origin":342898,"position":3},"title":"Water Temperatures, Central Great Barrier Reef & Aren\u2019t the Oceans Warming","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/04\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I was at John Brewer reef earlier in the month, and so I checked the AIMS (Australian Institute of Marine Science) water temperature data for this location. The most up-to-date information is to February 7, 2024, and has been measured at 9 metres. It begins February 1, 2016, thus giving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Central Great Barrier Reef\"","block_context":{"text":"Central Great Barrier Reef","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=central-great-barrier-reef"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0240405_J-BREWER_-S.Ireland31-Annotated-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0240405_J-BREWER_-S.Ireland31-Annotated-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0240405_J-BREWER_-S.Ireland31-Annotated-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0240405_J-BREWER_-S.Ireland31-Annotated-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0240405_J-BREWER_-S.Ireland31-Annotated-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":338393,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=338393","url_meta":{"origin":342898,"position":4},"title":"Announcing the Five Megafauna Photographers","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/08\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Great Barrier Reef has become a global symbol of manmade climate change. Along with this has come a focus on corals, and a believe that they are mostly small, fragile and bleached. In fact, species of Porites are the foundation of most coral reefs. These corals are often very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Corals\"","block_context":{"text":"Corals","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=corals"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0Manta_1798182817-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0Manta_1798182817-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0Manta_1798182817-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0Manta_1798182817-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0Manta_1798182817-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":192542,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=192542","url_meta":{"origin":342898,"position":5},"title":"Not Expecting Coral Bleaching During a La Ni\u00f1a","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/03\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0ABC has uploaded some footage from John Brewer Reef\u00a0that is part of the Underwater Museum of Art, the footage was apparently taken by WWF in February. \u00a0 It does not show a lot of bleached coral, but it does show some badly bleached individual colonies \u2013 and a lot of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/0P2240285.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/0P2240285.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/0P2240285.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/0P2240285.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/0P2240285.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/0P2240285.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342898","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=342898"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342915,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342898\/revisions\/342915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/342913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=342898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=342898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=342898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}