Surface film and fake clouds in $444m plan to save Great Barrier Reef

A new report says an innovative item could help save the Great Barrier Reef from destruction.

An innovative product could be key to saving the Great Barrier Reef.

The use of surface film is among a number of radical solutions proposed in a 113-page report from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, which outlines how it plans to spend a $444 million war chest of Federal Government money.

According to a report in The Courier-Mail, man-made clouds and cool water sprays are also being considered.

The shade cloth would float on the surface and protect the reef from sunlight, reducing the excessive heat contributing to coral bleaching.

Backers have compared the plan to putting shade cloth over vegie patches.

Successive heatwaves have put pressure of the Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Lachie Millard

“Preliminary modelling indicates that the best option for reef-wide protection lies in large-scale solar radiation management,” the report states.

“The concept of creating shade through clouds, mist, fog, or surface films assumes that decreased solar radiation protects corals from bleaching.

“RRAP (Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program) model predictions indicate that keeping existing corals alive at a large scale would have the biggest impact of all considered interventions.”

Sir David Attenborough this week revealed his shock at damage done to the reef. Picture: AFP

News of the radical solution comes just days after Sir David Attenborough slammed “powerful” figures in Australia for failing to act on climate change.

Sir David, who first dived at the Great Barrier Reef in the 1950s, said he was stunned to see its deterioration when he returned about 10 years ago.

“I will never forget diving on the reef … and suddenly seeing, instead of this multitude of wonderful forms and life, that it was stark white,” he said.

“It had bleached white because of the rising temperatures and the increasing acidity of the sea.”

Researchers say urgent action is needed to save the reef, which has been damaged by successive ocean heatwaves.

Heatwaves in 2016 and 2017 were estimated to have caused an 89 per cent fall in the growth of new coral.

The reef is also being decimated by crown-of-thorns starfish infestations, with more than a million of the creatures culled in the last four years.

Outbreaks of the dreaded starfish, which feed on hard coral, have been linked to increased pollution in waters around the reef.