With all the talk of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef and, closer to home, in the Solitary Islands, it is good to know that some corals are healthy and seem to be thriving among their bleached relatives.
Acropora sp. corals, among some others, appear to have been able to withstand local conditions, so far at least, and there are some excellent examples at all of the usual offshore island locations.
Of course, every year as our local water warms, the Solitary Islands receives an influx of warm water visitors. Fisherman recognise the late summer – early autumn season as the time to target the schools of mackeral and other pelagic species that have moved into the area. Further below the surface various other reef fish have also headed south, among them some rarely seen here. Various butterflyfishes and wrasses have been sighted and their presence adds to the amazing fish diversity the Solitary Islands Marine Park is known for.
