There is lots to see and study at Lizard Island, despite loss of coral as a result of the 2016 bleaching. The images in this post were captured in Nov-Dec 2016 and Jan 2017.  Further bleaching occurred in March 2017, but if you were to visit today you would still find these and many other species and wonderful sights.

Go there as soon as you can, because the future is uncertain.  The Great Barrier Reef ecosystem is being tested by elevated sea temperatures as never before in living memory, like a vast, uncontrolled, unintentional scientific experiment.

The need for ongoing research has never been greater or more urgent.  There is much more to know about the 600 types of coral on the Reef, their capacity to adapt and acclimatise to bleaching, whether there are any human interventions that could assist (see Basis for hope), and ways of protecting corals from excess populations of the Crown of Thorns Starfish.   There is also much more to discover about countless thousands of non-coral species, many of which may become rare or extinct as a flow-on from the coral loss caused by bleaching.

We thank Delaware North, owners of the Lizard Island Resort, and photographer Alex Vail,  for their permission to use these images.  Scroll down and double-click on any of them to view a larger version.

Green turtle coming down after a breath off Research Beach. © Alex Vail

 

Green turtle swimming in the shallows at Research Beach. © Alex Vail

 

Fire coral, sponges, and feather stars vie for space at the Snake Pit © Alex Vail

 

Branching Acropora coral at the Snake Pit © Alex Vail

 

Damselfish getting ready to take shelter for the night on Big Vicki’s Rreef. © Alex Vail

 

Blue green chromis and lemon damsels crowd over their coral home on Big Vicki’s Reef. © Alex Vail

 

The castle-like structure of an Echinipora mammiformis coral makes a fine home for fish at Lagoon Entrance. © Alex Vail

 

A leaf-like Pachyseris coral sits at the bottom of a coral alleyway in Lagoon Entrance. © Alex Vail

 

A Melithea sea fan stretches for the surface at Lagoon Entrance. © Alex Vail

 

Moon wrasse and damselfish flit over a soft coral garden at the lagoon entrance. © Alex Vail

 

A diver follows the reef wall over feather stars and soft corals at Macs Reef. © Alex Vail

 

A sea whip garden harbors diverse fish and invertebrate life at Macs Reef. © Alex Vail

 

A soldierfish peers out his underwater Alladin’s cave at Macs Reef. © Alex Vail

 

A potato cod takes an after-meal rest at the Cod Hole. © Alex Vail

 

An inquisitive potato cod visits a diver in midwater at the Cod Hole. © Alex Vail

 

Fusiliers and drummer school over a coral lined dropoff at No-Name Reef. © Alex Vail

 

A small and curious black-tip reef shark patrols his territory in Anchor Bay. © Alex Vail

 

A male clown anemone fish blows sand off his clutch of soon-to-hatch Nemos at Research Beach. © Alex Vail

 

The clown anemonefish flares his mouth as a potential predator of his babies passes off Research Beach. © Alex Vail

 

Coral dropoffs in the channel of No-Name Reef harbour a huge variety of fish species. © Alex Vail

 

A potato cod hovers over a coral bommie underneath excited snorkellers at the Cod Hole. © Alex Vail

 

A snorkeller follows the coral studded reef edge at the Cod Hole. @ Alex Vail

 

A dive team swims through blue water after a recently sighted manta ray off Ribbon Reef 10. © Alex Vail

 

A huge school of inquisitive rainbow runners circles the photographer off Ribbon Reef 10. © Alex Vail

 

Two giant sweetlips spend the heat of the day under a shady coral ledge in Dynamite Pass. © Alex Vail