Alarming images show extent of coral bleaching damage to parts of iconic Ningaloo Reef

Urgent Government action is needed, with parts of the much-loved Ningaloo Reef on “red alert”, damaged by widespread coral bleaching, conservationists warn.

The latest warning and underwater imagery has prompted Environment and Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby to order an “urgent briefing” from his department.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society has declared large areas of coral in the area are being hit hard by coral bleaching and could “die in the weeks ahead”.

“This is heartbreaking for all of us who love Ningaloo. To see beautiful coral reefs bleaching white at Ningaloo icons, including Turquoise Bay, Coral Bay and Bundegi, is just devastating,” AMCS WA director Paul Gamblin said.

“Bleaching at Ningaloo is not normal. It demands urgent action from government, not business as usual . . . this is a red-alert moment for Ningaloo.”

Mr Gamblin said AMCS had called for State Government action to address this marine heatwave weeks ago amid a large fish kill in the Pilbara, but had been met with silence.

“This marine heatwave is like an underwater bushfire raging along WA’s coast killing tens of thousands of fish that washed up on Pilbara beaches, and now it’s cooking Ningaloo, the jewel in the crown,” he said.

“Surely now that there is such widespread bleaching at Ningaloo, someone in government will step up.”

Mr Gamblin said many people in Exmouth were distressed by what was unfolding and deserved a clear response from the government.

“It’s also a stark reminder that coastal communities and their businesses, including the fishing industry and Ningaloo’s world-renowned tourism industry, rely on a healthy marine environment, and climate change poses an existential threat to them,” he said.

“It’s time we listened to our scientists who have been warning for decades that climate change would threaten Ningaloo as it already has the Great Barrier Reef and many other coral reefs around the world.

“Governments should be reducing pressure on our stressed marine environment, not piling it on. They should not even be contemplating industrial development at special places such as Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo.”

Mr Whitby said he had requested an urgent briefing from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions “on this matter to better understand the full extent of the damage and what can be done in response”.

“We know the destructive impact climate change is having on WA’s natural environment, with marine heatwaves an increasing risk to our coral reefs,” he said.

“Ningaloo is one of our State’s greatest natural wonders as well as one of our most iconic tourism destinations.

“It was a WA Labor Government that championed and ultimately created Ningaloo Marine Park in the 1980s, and it was a WA Labor Government that expanded those protections in the early 2000s.

“Our Government will always work hard to protect our environment, and I will always go above and beyond to protect one-of-a-kind oceanic wonders like Ningaloo.”