2025-08-12
A record-breaking marine heatwave has officially caused one of Australia’s most severe and unprecedented coral bleaching events, a new report by The Western Australian Coral Bleaching Group has found.
The heatwave has wreaked havoc in some areas off WA’s coast for over 30 weeks – double the longest period of heating ever recorded at the Great Barrier Reef – and caused devastating coral mortality spanning the Kimberley and Pilbara coasts, including World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef.
It is the first time Australia’s two World Heritage-listed reefs have been hit simultaneously by coral bleaching, and comes as thousands of dead sea creatures continue to wash up on South Australia’s coastline from a toxic algal bloom – all caused primarily from warming oceans.
Quotes attributable to Australian Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:
“Look at what our oceans are telling us. Right across Australia our oceans are in distress – marine wildlife is washing up dead by the thousands, and our old-growth trees of the sea are burning. Corals, some hundreds of years old, are bleaching and dying.
“The tragedy unfolding off our coastlines is due to warming oceans caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and nowhere else in Australia is this more evident than Ningaloo Reef.
“Remote and pristine Ningaloo Reef isn’t battling with agricultural run-off, direct hits from cyclones, or marine invasive species like other oceanic ecosystems around Australia. Its decline is entirely due to warming oceans. This is the climate crisis in action, unaided or abetted, and it’s terrifying.
“Sophie McNeill and I travelled to Ningaloo Reef last week to witness the tragedy first-hand. We met with communities that are struggling to comprehend the breakdown of the natural world around them, and scientists who are warning the data is off the charts.
“What’s it going to take for our governments to act on the climate crisis? How many wake-up calls do they need before they truly act on climate change?
“Coral bleaching is the canary in the coal mine for global warming. It is one of the earliest indicators of life on earth struggling with rising emissions, and should be treated as a stark warning sign for what other species will endure unless governments act on climate change.
“Yet at this time of historic climate breakdown what does the Albanese government do? Extend the nation’s biggest and dirtiest fossil fuel project – Woodside’s North West Shelf extension – for another 50 years. It’s criminal.”
Quotes attributable to WA Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans & Climate Change, Sophie McNeill MLC:
“What I witnessed last week at Ningaloo was absolutely heartbreaking, as large swathes of our stunning World Heritage-listed reef now look like a coral graveyard.
“These images of our dead and dying coral coast are deeply distressing for every West Australian who loves our oceans.
“I also saw firsthand the shock and grief that so many members of the Exmouth community are now experiencing in the wake of this devastating news.
“This unprecedented ocean warming and coral death is exactly what our climate scientists have been warning about for decades – yet here in WA we have a Labor government that is continuing to ignore the science and push for fossil fuel expansion.
“Now is the time for Labor to pick whose side they are on – that of WA communities like Exmouth and all the wonderful people who work on our stunning reef? Or that of Woodside who is actively destroying Ningaloo before our eyes?
“Western Australia is the only state with rising emissions, no 2030 target and no renewable energy target – it is holding back all of Australia's climate ambitions and threatening our ability to meet nationally legislated targets.
“This death of so much of our beautiful World Heritage-listed Ningaloo and our stunning WA coral reefs must be the urgent climate wake up call this government needs.
“How much more of our beautiful reef has to die on their watch before they finally stop working for Woodside and start working to protect our planet and our kids' future?
“This week the Greens will be debating our Climate Bill in the WA parliament, and we are calling on WA Labor to support the legislation and end their climate denial.
“We can’t afford to waste another day. We have to fight to protect what is left.”