Reposted from Jennifer Marohasy’s Blog
September 26, 2021 By jennifer
I lent my underwater digital camera (Olympus TG-6) to a pricey good friend who not too long ago visited Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef. She came visiting final Sunday to return the digital camera, and to point out me a few of her pictures. My favorite is of the Parrot fish simply past the magenta-coloured corals, shared above. Over the ledge the water is deeper, and the corals have a blue haze. This is as a result of wavelengths within the blue a part of the seen mild spectrum penetrate water to some few metres, whereas all of the wavelengths within the crimson a part of the spectrum are absorbed by 5 metres beneath the water.
For those that have by no means snorkelled or scuba-dived, and who prefer to lament the dying Great Barrier Reef, the corals past the parrot fish in Jessica’s image may all look bleached. But that's how corals look within the distance when visibility is sweet, as a result of the water is so clear. It is simply if you swim as much as them, if you end up nearer to the corals, which you could see their actual color.
When I see pictures on-line and in newspapers of corals described as bleached, I usually surprise how the {photograph} was taken – at what depth and whether or not it was color corrected. I wrote to a journalist, Michael Foley from the Sydney Morning Herald, again in April a few image purportedly exhibiting bleached coral.
Hi Michael
I’m actually impressed together with your interview with Terry Hughes and notably how a lot on-line media has republished your article ‘Reef on path to destruction and clever science can’t repair it’ and that {photograph}.
I used to be curious concerning the picture of the bleached corals. Where it was taken, and the way it was color adjusted. I despatched an e-mail by way of the Catlin Seaview Survey contact web page, asking for this info final Tuesday (thirteenth April) and to Sara Naylor at UQ. The e-mail to Sara bounced, Catlin hasn’t replied.
What I would like is the unique full decision uncooked picture. Could you please ship me this?
Also, the place was the picture taken/which reef, and when/which yr?
If it was taken again in 2015 or 2016 or 2017 it might be essential to know the state of that coral now?
Michael Foley by no means replied.
There is an excellent library on Lady Elliot Island, on the resort in a room tucked behind the museum. I spent a while there most night after I was on the island for per week again in May. I discovered {a photograph} similar to the one I queried Michael Foley about. It is in a ebook entitled ‘Coral Whisperers’ by Irus Braverman revealed by the University of California Press in October 2018.
The caption to this {photograph} gives much more info than the Sydney Morning Herald article by Michael Foley revealed on eighth April this yr (2021). So, the {photograph} used within the article by Michael Foley was maybe taken at Heron Island and again in February 2016.
It would appear considerably disingenuous for a information story revealed on eighth April 2021 to be accompanied by {a photograph} from 2016 however with out together with this essential info: that the {photograph} is 5 years outdated. It would even be helpful if the writer defined that seen mild of a blue wavelength penetrates water, whereas crimson is absorbed, so corals even just some metres away can have a blue haze and even seem bleached.
Also, if the Sydney Morning Herald are going to incorporate {a photograph} from 5 years in the past in a information story, why don’t in addition they present a newer {photograph} – so we now have some thought whether or not the coral continues to be there, or not?
Of course, beige is the commonest color of corals at reefs around the globe, as I defined in my quick documentary movie ‘Beige Reef’, which you could watch on YouTube.
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The characteristic picture, on the very high of this weblog publish, was taken at Lady Elliot Island in September 2021 by Jessica with my TG-6 digital camera. I additionally like how Jessica’s {photograph} so clearly exhibits that the Parrot fish’s enamel are fused collectively. These fishes eat stay coral. I’ve seen them scrap the huge Porites and chunk into fairly Acropora.
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