During the past few weeks this site has received reports and images of the current coral bleaching event taking place throughout the Bird’s Head Seascape.  Some areas have been significantly impacted while others, thankfully, show little damage. We have reached out to resorts, liveaboards, NGO’s, and other conservation organizations to determine which areas and which coral species have been the most affected.

                                         Hope and Despair-some corals are bleaching, while others remain healthy—some areas are significantly impacted, while others show almost no bleaching

Initial reports indicate while bleaching is widespread, the most severely impacted reefs are located in the Dampier Strait.  Located on Mansuar Island (in the Dampier Strait), The Sea People, a local Yayasan (NGO), which is helping restore corals in that area, is compiling data from several monitoring stations, hoping to determine which species are able to survive serious bleaching.

Just like some corals in some areas are affected and others aren’t; this news is not all bad.  In fact we can hopefully learn from it. The Sea People is in the process of creating a data base and survey for liveaboards and resorts to share with their guests who can then become part of the fact-finding process.

This site will continue to monitor the situation and plans to publish a multi-part comprehensive report as soon as more data is available including a link to The Sea People’s survey.  They too have created a post with a video showing some of the damage; click on image ⬇︎ to view the video.

Until The Sea People’s survey is active please send reports, including images, to info@birdsheadseascape.com.