The Only Thing That They'll Notice: "Tourism Headed For Tough Times As Reef Bleaching Worsens"

[hatrack]

A year ago, Tourism Tropical North Queensland issued a call for members to "bombard social media with the tsunami of joy" to counter global news headlines suggesting the Great Barrier Reef was in trouble from coral bleaching.

Ed. - Emphasis added.

A tsunami of a different sort will likely be needed this year as the bleaching has not only returned but is now hitting the key tourist zone from Port Douglas to Cairns and south to Townsville and beyond. Heat stress on corals continues to mount with sea temperatures still abnormally high. There's also no cyclone or large tropical low on the forecast horizon to stir in cooler waters and provide cloud cover.

"Bleaching is a real bitch from a marketing perspective," said Col McKenzie, executive director of another industry group, the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators. "I expect [numbers] will be hit." Mr McKenzie said wholesalers were getting nervous but it could take until September to know how hard the impact will be on an industry worth $6 billion a year and employs perhaps 60,000 people. In terms of visitor numbers it just had its best year. (See Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chart below.)



To be sure, Australia's reefs are among many being hit by excessively warm ocean waters that scientist say began to devastate coral reefs around the planet almost three years ago with little sign of an end.

EDIT

The unprecedented back-to-back bleaching is fuelling calls from within the industry to stand up for the reef's future, including taking on the Queensland and federal governments for their support for the development of a huge new coal province in the Galilee Basin for export. "If this isn't going to kick people in the arse, what's it going to take?" said John Edmondson, a marine biologist and owner of Wavelength, a company that operates reef tours from Port Douglas.

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/bleaching-is-a-real-bitch-great-barrier-reef-tourism-headed-for-tough-times-20170317-gv0y2v.html

[JudyM]

1. Saw a report of another new "far worse than we thought" report by scientists, Australia, I think.

We seem to not give a damn, though.

[lapfog_1]

2. A lot of scuba divers are booking "last chance"

trips... to places like the Great Barrier reef.

As in "last chance" to visit a live reef ecosystem. Ever (in anyone's lifetime and likely for a thousand years)