Australia’s Great Barrier Reef hit by mass coral bleaching

Schools of fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia [File: Lucas Jackson/Reuters]

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been hit by a major coral bleaching event likely caused by heat stress built up over the summer at the biologically diverse site, a government agency has said.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), which monitors the reef’s health, said on Friday that the damage was “widespread” in at least two-thirds of the areas surveyed at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.