The Australian Institute of Marine Science said in its annual survey on Wednesday that, despite increasing coral cover since 2017, the coral deaths, caused mainly by bleaching last year associated with climate change, have left the area of living coral across the iconic reef system close to its long-term average. The change underscores a new level of volatility at the UNESCO World Heritage site. Mike Emslie, who heads the Tropical Marine Research Agency's Long-Term Monitoring Program, said the live coral cover measured in 2024 was the largest recorded in 39 years of surveys.

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