Fears back-to-back cyclones may have damaged Great Barrier Reef

December’s Cyclone Jasper and last week’s Cyclone Kirrily may have damaged parts of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, scientists and conservationists say. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Back-to-back cyclones crossing the Great Barrier Reef have experts concerned vast flood plumes and heavy waves may have damaged parts of the world’s biggest coral reef system.

Reef scientists and conservationists went into the summer worried that an El Niño weather pattern would elevate the risk of mass coral bleaching.