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A late summer monsoon in 2026 brought the Great Barrier Reef a reprieve from unfolding coral bleaching, aiding its initial recovery from recent climate-induced disturbances, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s (AIMS) annual survey report on the ecosystem.
Coral cover across all three regions of the Reef increased slightly or remained at similar levels to that recorded last year, indicating limited impacts from 2025’s mass bleaching event, and the regional bleaching event in the Northern and Central regions recorded earlier in 2026.
The Reef faced other impacts from flooding and two tropical cyclones including Narelle, but most of the surveys for this report were completed before its passage as a category 5 system over the Northern region in March. Increases of crown-of-thorns starfish in the Northern Great Barrier Reef over the last few years indicate initiation of the fifth recorded wave of outbreaks for the Reef since the 1960s.
