SYDNEY, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- A study led by the University of Queensland (UQ) has uncovered greater-than-expected coverage of coral in waters off the Sunshine Coast in southeast Queensland.
The Mooloolaba Ecological Assessment and Mapping (MEAM) project, undertaken by volunteer divers from UQ's Dive Club from 2020 to 2022, found high proportions of hard coral cover across all three sites of the Mooloolaba, including Mudjimba Island (41 percent), Inner Gneerings (40 percent) and Outer Gneerings (37 percent).
Soft coral varied at each site with 32 percent at Outer Gneerings, 11 percent at Mudjimba Island and 3 percent at Inner Gneerings.
"The coverage of the whole Mooloolaba Reef is like 54 percent on average," Chris Roelfsema, project leader and associate professor from UQ, told Xinhua on Wednesday.
"There was an astonishing amount of coral cover that we didn't realize was there," Roelfsema added, stressing that it is the first time the divers have obtained such detailed field data on its composition and structure.
According to the report, the relative abundance of hard and soft corals was higher than that reported from previous surveys at Point Lookout and Flinders Reef, which are also located off the coast of southeast Queensland.
The hard coral cover was at 32 percent at Flinders in 2019 and 18.5 percent at Point Lookout in 2021.
Despite the good news, Roelfsema said that their volunteer divers also found coral damage, disease and debris affecting all sites surveyed, with marine debris being the most common impact.
Based on the project data and active discussions, the team outlined a series of recommendations for the conservation work at Mooloolaba, such as continuing annual reef health monitoring on a select number of sites.
Habitat maps were also created for Mooloolaba reefs, which described the substrate type, water depth and significant features.
Noting that Mooloolaba Reef links the Great Barrier Reef with the reefs in southeast Queensland, Roelfsema hoped that the resulting report could raise awareness about the local reefs and help influence the management and conservation. ■