Ocean warming is a big consideration when it comes to the health of our coral reefs, citizen scientists are helping to nurture coral growth via a volunteer ‘sea weeding’ project.
Volunteers have been helping remove macroalgae from two reef plots since 2018, with trial sites off the north Queensland coast at Magnetic Island seeing regrowth of up to 600 per cent.
“So if you think of going out in the garden and weeding and removing things you don’t want in your garden, it’s like that,” James Cook University Senior Lecturer Professor David Bourne told Sky News Australia.
“We go underwater, we use divers and snorkelers and essentially just remove the sea weed from the bottom.
“The project was essentially to assess if you do remove the seaweed, what happens? Does it actually help the reef itself?”
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