Mimic Octopus Makes Home on Great Barrier Reef

BlueGin

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Of all the amazing octopus species out there, the mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, is perhaps the most bewildering. While most known octopuses are able to change color and shape for camouflage, mimic octopuses can also impersonate other animals to deter would-be predators. They can contort their bodies and long, striped arms to look--and swim--like other (less edible) sea life, including lionfish, sole and banded sea snakes.

These implausible creatures were only first discovered by scientists in the 1990s in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Since then, the mimic octopuses have been found in various waters around that island country, but not too much farther afield. They are generally active during the day but live primarily on obscuring sandy or muddy sea floors--down to about seven meters.

Mimic Octopus Makes Home on Great Barrier Reef
 
Pollution still a threat to Great Barrier Reef...

Report: Pollution Still a Threat to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
September 21, 2015 — There's more disturbing news for one of Australia's most iconic natural treasures - the Great Barrier Reef. Efforts to curb pollution are moving too slowly, according to a report released by the Queensland state government.
The report shows the health of the waters surrounding the Great Barrier Reef remains poor, and that efforts to prevent the stain of pollution in the reef’s inshore waters are moving too slowly. Research has shown that between 2009 and 2014 the amount of sediments, nutrients and pesticides from farmland fell, although not enough to reach environmental targets. Sediment and chemicals can destabilize the coral, restricting its ability to feed and grow.

Queensland’s environment minister, Steven Miles, said the research shows the reef needs more protection. “Over that 5-year period we did see some progress towards our targets. Sediment is down 12 per cent and pesticides loads are down 30 per cent, but what is most disturbing is these results are far from our targets. Progress towards these targets flat-lined in the period 2013 to 2014. If one of my kids came home with a report card like this I would be a bit disappointed. There is more bad news here than good news,” said Miles. The report found that less than a third of Queensland’s sugar plantations were using recommended techniques to reduce the use of pesticides.

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A tourist swims on the Great Barrier Reef

Only 28% of land managers known as graziers were managing their land properly and reducing harmful water runoff to safeguard the health of the reef. The official target for all these practices is a 90% reduction in pesticide use within three years. Farmers’ organizations, however, insist that their members were trying to make the transition to more sustainable practices as soon as possible.

In July, UNESCO withdrew its threat to list the reef as a World Heritage area in danger, but has demanded Australia do more to protect the series of coral reefs that snakes down its north-eastern coastline. The reef is one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations and lies at the core of an industry that provides tens of thousands of jobs. The wondrous 2,300 kilometer stretch of coral faces myriad threats, including climate change, industrialization, illegal fishing and outbreaks of crown of thorns starfish that prey on the coral.

Report: Pollution Still a Threat to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
 
Coral bleaching due to 3 viruses...

Hidden viruses may threaten Australia's Great Barrier Reef=
25 February 2016 - Australian scientists suspect a trio of viruses infecting algae from the Great Barrier Reef may aggravate coral bleaching.
Healthy corals rely on a symbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic algae known as Symbiodinium. These single-celled organisms live in coral tissue and provide them with up to 90% of their nutrients. But under stressful conditions, such as elevated water temperatures, this relationship breaks down. The algae may stop photosynthesising or else corals can expel them into the sea. This results in bleaching, which can prove fatal to the coral.

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Now researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have discovered three distinct viruses attacking Symbiodinium cells, living in a lab culture established from samples collected along the Great Barrier Reef in northern Queensland. "In the cultures that we have... there seems to be this ongoing, persistent viral infection," says Dr Karen Weynberg, a marine biologist from AIMS who led the research. "It seems like Symbiodinium is really under attack, quite heavily, from three different types of viruses."

Weynberg, who imaged and sequenced the genomes of the viruses, says there is a "strong possibility" they are having detrimental effects on the algae's ability to photosynthesise and, as a result, could be contributing to coral bleaching. Her findings provide new insight into the currently unclear impact of viruses on the health of coral reefs, and may have implications for scientists who use algae cultures to study corals. She will present her results this week at the 2016 Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans.

Finding the viruses
 
Highest alert level over an epidemic of coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef...

Climate action urged over Great Barrier Reef bleaching
Tue, Mar 22, 2016 - Environmental groups yesterday urged greater action on climate change after the Australian government declared the highest alert level over an epidemic of coral bleaching in the pristine northern reaches of the nation’s Great Barrier Reef.
The Australian government on Sunday said that corals had turned white and grey in parts of the World Heritage-listed marine park, with the bleaching “severe” in northern areas. Environmental group the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) said large sections of coral near Lizard Island were drained of all color and fighting for survival. “The reef can recover, but we must speed up the shift to clean, renewable energy and we must build reef resilience by reducing runoff pollution from farms and land clearing,” WWF spokesperson Richard Leck said. Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their color.

Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonize them. “The pictures we are seeing coming out of the northern Great Barrier Reef are devastating,” said Shani Tager of Greenpeace Australia Pacific. “The Queensland and federal governments must see this as a red alert and act accordingly.” Tager called on the government to reconsider coal mining, saying the burning of the fuel is “driving climate change, warming our waters and bleaching the life and color out of our reef.”

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People snorkel near coral at the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, on June 11 last year.​

Australian Minister of the Environment Greg Hunt, who inspected the area by air on Sunday, said three-quarters of the reef is experiencing “minor to moderate bleaching.” He said that while the bleaching is nowhere near as bad as in 1998 or 2002, in the top quarter, north of Lizard Island, it was severe. Jodie Rummer, a senior research fellow at James Cook University, said after spending 40 or so days at Lizard Island that the situation is “not good at all.”

Rummer said that while the northern parts of the reef are among its most beautiful and pristine, they have also been hard hit by cyclones in recent years, which have caused structural damage to the coral. “Certain areas that are typically 100 percent coral cover — which is a really healthy reef — are almost 100 percent bleached now; so it is quite disturbing,” she said. “It is quite sobering to think that this is the wake up call that we are getting to take better care of our environment.”

Climate action urged over Great Barrier Reef bleaching - Taipei Times
 
UNESCO opts against 'in danger' status...
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Great Barrier Reef: Unesco opts against 'in danger' status
Thu, 06 Jul 2017: Unesco opts against upgrading the reef's status, but raises concerns over conservation progress.
Unesco has decided not to place the Great Barrier Reef on its official list of World Heritage sites "in danger". Unprecedented back-to-back coral bleaching events had intensified debate about whether Unesco should change the status of Australia's reef. Listing a site as "in danger" can help address threats by, for example, unlocking access to funds or publicity. Australia welcomed the decision as support for its conservation measures, but Unesco also made criticisms. The ruling was made at a Unesco World Heritage Committee meeting in Poland.

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The Great Barrier Reef was given World Heritage status in 1981​

Australian Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg described it as a "big win" for his nation. "We are taking every action possible to ensure this great wonder of the world stays viable and healthy for future generations to come," he told an Australian Broadcasting Corp radio programme. In its draft decision released earlier this week, Unesco said Australia had taken several significant steps to preserve the reef under its Reef 2050 Plan.

However, it criticised Australia's slow progress in improving water quality, noting some conservation targets were "not expected to be achieved within the foreseen timeframe". The heritage body also called on Australia to better tackle the issue of land clearing. Echoing studies by scientists, Unesco said climate change remained the reef's most significant threat. It called on Australia to provide a comprehensive update on its protection efforts by December 2019.

Heritage classifications

Unesco has named 1,052 sites of environmental and cultural importance, such as the reef, on its World Heritage List. It keeps a separate list of places in danger of losing heritage status, currently numbering 55. In addition to potentially accessing World Heritage Committee-allocated funds, being on the danger list also alerts the international community, who might contribute funds themselves or technical expertise. The reef - a vast collection of thousands of smaller coral reefs stretching from the northern tip of Queensland to the state's southern city of Bundaberg - was given World Heritage status in 1981.

Great Barrier Reef: Unesco opts against 'in danger' status - BBC News
 

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