I am getting things ready for another of my annual pilgrimages to Coral Bay. Not sure what to expect this year. In April of 2022 there was a large mass coral spawning event, followed by a period with little or no wind or swell to disperse the floating coral spawn. This then decomposed, using up all the oxygen in the water which proved fatal to almost all of the coral and fish in Bill’s Bay. Several of the coral sites I have been following for many years will certainly have been affected, the full extent of the damage will only be revealed once I can get in the water and have a good look around. Thankfully the coral outside of Bill’s Bay has apparently been left largely untouched. In 2002 I was present when an almost identical event took place. Not quite as severe, though all the fast growing staghorn coral was killed along with huge numbers of fish. This event took nearly 20 years to recover from and Bill’s Bay just before the 2022 event was at last back to its best. These photos shows healthy coral from Feb/March 2022, just prior to the most recent event.
