Agencies say 22% of Barrier Reef coral is dead, correcting 'misinterpretation'

Two government agencies at odds with colleagues on bleaching taskforce over extent of reef damage, even though figures are broadly similar

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Almost a quarter of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef is now dead, according to two government agencies, with the previously pristine remote northern sections worst affected.

The data from in-water surveys, released on Friday afternoon, was from the two agencies that were part of the national coral bleaching taskforce.