Great Barrier Reef: devastating images tell story of coral colonies' destruction

Exclusive: a series of images taken from around Lizard Island reveal the rapid death of coral across thousands of kilometres of the reef as bleaching takes hold

Devastating images showing the complete destruction of coral colonies on the Great Barrier Reef have been obtained by Guardian Australia and illustrate what is happening to coral there that would fill an area the size of Scotland.

They reveal the rapid death of coral impacting much of the Great Barrier Reef, with estimates that as much as half of the coral in the northern third of the 2000km reef had this fate.