Pacific

Great Barrier Reef sees record coral deaths this year

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE - This Sept. 10, 2001, file photo shows Agincourt Reef, located about 30 miles off the coast near the northern reaches of the 1,200-mile long Great Barrier Reef. Australian scientists say warming oceans year 2016 have caused the biggest die-off of corals ever recorded on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, that the worst-affected area was a 700-kilometer (400-mile) swath in the north of the World Heritage-listed 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) chain of reefs off Australia's northeast coast. (AP Photo/Randy Bergman, File) (The Associated Press)

In this Friday Nov. 25, 2016, photo Australian senator Pauline Hanson listens to marine scientist Alison Jones, left, as she displays a piece of coral on the Great Barrier Reef off Great Keppel Island, Queensland, Australia. Australian scientists say warming oceans year 2016 have caused the biggest die-off of corals ever recorded on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, that the worst-affected area was a 700-kilometer (400-mile) swath in the north of the World Heritage-listed 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) chain of reefs off Australia's northeast coast. (Dan Peled, AAP Image via AP) (The Associated Press)

Australian scientists say warming oceans this year have caused the biggest die-off of corals ever recorded on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said Tuesday that the worst-affected area was a 700-kilometer (400-mile) swath in the north of the World Heritage-listed 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) chain of reefs off Australia's northeast coast.

It found that the northern swath had lost an average of 67 percent of its shallow-water corals in the past nine months.

The center based its findings on dive surveys in October and November.

The governments of Australia and the state of Queensland will update the UNESCO World Heritage Center this week on progress being made to protect and improve the reef, including their response to coral bleaching.