Reef health update | 22 January 2026

Heavy rainfall over the past few weeks has led to flood plumes flowing into the Marine Park in the Northern, Central and Southern regions. These plumes are being closely monitored, with water quality checks underway through the Marine Monitoring Program.

Temperature

Sea surface temperatures have eased in some areas this week. The Far Northern region cooled by about 0.4°C, the Northern region stayed steady and the Central and Southern regions warmed slightly by 0.2–0.3°C. Temperatures across all regions are now close to the long-term average for this time of year

With cooler temperatures in the Far Northern region, heat stress has eased and reefs here have returned to a bleaching watch status.

Rainfall

Between 12 and 18 January, very heavy rainfall continued in the Mackay–Whi ...