Great Barrier Reef: 30% of coral died in 'catastrophic' 2016 heatwave

Report chronicles 'mass mortality', the extent and severity of which has shocked scientists
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Scientists have chronicled the "mass mortality" of corals on the Great Barrier Reef, in a new report that says 30% of the reef's corals died in a catastrophic nine-month marine heatwave.

The study, published in Nature and led by Prof Terry Hughes, the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, examined the link between the level of heat exposure, subsequent coral bleaching and ultimately coral death.