FNQ researchers to document “synchronised sex act” on Great Barrier Reef

The “biggest party on earth” is coming to the Great Barrier Reef with researchers preparing for a crazy coral spawning event which will attract visitors from across the globe.

Citizen scientists are preparing data ahead of this year's coral spawning event. Picture: Supplied

The “biggest party on earth” is coming to the Great Barrier Reef with Far North researchers preparing for its annual coral spawning event, bringing new life to the World Heritage Site and attracting visitors from across the globe.

A major citizen science program, led by Reef Authority, is working with around 80 dive instructors, Traditional Owners and school teachers to learn how to collect critical data, assess coral health and track recovery in the lead-up to the spawning event.

A coral spawning shot at Moore Reef last year. Picture: Stuart Ireland/Calypso

Dubbed “the world’s biggest synchronised sex act”, when billions of corals release eggs and sperm into the ocean during the dead of night, Reef Authority education director Fiona Merida said the event had to be seen to be believed.

“The best way that I could describe it would be that you are inside a snow globe, that you shake up when you’re a child,” Ms Merida said.

“So you imagine that it’s filled with pink and slightly orange (eggs and sperm), and you shake it and you’re in the middle of it, but you’re underwater.

“Everything around you is going berserk. Normally at night on a reef, it’s one of the most peaceful places you can ever be.

“It’s really quiet and there’s a darkness to it. So when the reef comes to life like that, there’s nothing like it.”

Data collected by citizen scientists will be used to identify areas threatened by climate change. Picture: Supplied

Through the Eye on the Reef program, researchers could respond to climate change’s impact on the natural wonder, Ms Merida said.

“Every data point collected helps us to understand how the reef is responding to changing conditions, including bleaching and recovery, so we can take action where it’s needed most,” she said.

The Eye on the Reef’s citizen scientists are gathering data ahead of this year’s coral spawning event on the Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Supplied.

Marine biologist Dr Eric Fisher said the spawning was a testament to the reef’s resilience with corals’ reproductive cells, or gametes, combining and eventually developing into new coral colonies.

“It is one of the biggest parties in the world … and the beautiful thing about this year is we’re going to get a split spawning,” Dr Fisher said.

“We’re going to get (spawnings in) November and December. So although the Great Barrier Reef is under pressure, it has not lost its ecosystem function.

“And when we see these split spawning, that’s why we need to observe how well corals spawn, how well the new babies come in, and that allows us to plan what we’re going to do in the future for the incoming threats.”

Around 45 new Eye on the Reef trainees in the Whitsundays also joined the data collecting group recently.

Originally published as FNQ researchers to document “synchronised sex act” on Great Barrier Reef