Tourists can rest assured knowing Hardy Reef is still in good shape.
Reef Safari divers inspected the iconic outer-reef destination in the aftermath of the cyclone and the snapshots tell a positive story about the state of marine life and coral in the area.
The images attracted national attention as Channel 9’s Today Show shared the pictures on social media.
Cruise Whitsundays general manager of operations Gary Kilby said the pictures revealed “good news”.
“Due to the large wave action there are some more fragile coral that did incur some damage, but overall despite the circumstances the good news is the coral is still in good shape, still vibrant and marine life still present,” he said.
Reef Safari co-owner Peter Farrell has taken six dives to the Hardy Reef spot since Cyclone Debbie hit and said he was pleasantly surprised with what he saw.
“As expected there is some damage, mostly to the faster growing species of coral which are generally damaged easily by the cyclone but some parts of the reef still look really good,” he said.
“We need to bear in mind that one of the up-sides to the cyclone is the fact that water temperatures dropped several degrees which would have eased pressure on the reef from bleaching point of view.”
Mr Farrell noted the diversity of marine life available including trevally, turtles and wide array of reef fish.
Source: Whitsunday Times
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