Cyclone Alfred cools waters, spurring major coral recovery at Lady Elliot Island

The Great Barrier Reef suffered extensive bleaching in the summer of 2024, but the arrival of Cyclone Alfred in February 2025 cooled surrounding waters, especially around Lady Elliot Island. This temperature drop of roughly two degrees Celsius enabled about ninety percent of the island's bleached coral to return to a healthy state, according to marine biologist Erin Watson, who said the corals now look indistinguishable from unbleached ones.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science described the 2024 event as its most severe in four decades, causing substantial mortality across the reef. While cyclones can also damage fragile coral structures with strong swells, the cooling effect proved beneficial here. Project manager Christine Dudgeon of the Leaf to Reef program highlighted the island's natural cold-water upwelling as a protective factor. Scientists are now looking forward to a potentially large spawning event later in the year, with both Watson and AIMS researcher Mike Emslie expressing optimism about coral reproduction after recovery.