AIMS Annual Survey Finds Great Barrier Reef Coral Cover Recovering in Northern and Central Regions

The Australian Institute of Marine Science published its Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Condition 2025/26 on August 10, 2026, based on manta-tow surveys of 121 reefs. Hard coral cover rose to 35.1% in the Northern region (up from 30.0% in 2025) and 31.6% in the Central region (up from 28.6%), while the Southern region slipped slightly to 26.4% (from 26.9%). Of the surveyed reefs, 28% showed increased coral cover, 56% showed no significant change, and 16% declined. AIMS attributed the reprieve largely to a late-summer 2025/26 monsoon that increased cloud cover and cooled sea surface temperatures, limiting the severity of bleaching after the reef's 2024 mass bleaching event and the broader fourth global coral bleaching event that ran through September 2025. Sea temperatures across the Marine Park nonetheless remained 0.7–1.2°C above average, and a regional bleaching event was still declared in the Northern Management Region, underscoring that the improvement reflects a pause in heat stress rather than a reversal of the reef's long-term warming trajectory.