When there is an increase in the level of diseases, the first question asked is, “Was there an increase in testing?”

I first snorkeled on the reef in the Whitsundays in 1968 and ever since have been facinated and interested in this unique environment. Until recently, this facination had been tempered by the alarmist information about human destruction of the reef and my feelings about the reef were starting to become ambivalent. However, a few months of visiting various reefs this year has turned that around completely. Some of the reefs we visited included John Brewer, South Banfield, Hope, Fairey, Little Black, Perfect Lagoon and Heralds Prong. I can't compare them historically, but the environment on all of these reefs when diving on them looked like they were thriving with fish life and corals. Your KZread videos are a gift to us all. I'll certainly be showing these to my grandchildren.

@scottw2317

5 ай бұрын

If you are not already aware of the work of Dr Jennifer Marohasy who also dived John Brewer and several other reefs with video presentations that should also be something to show the grand kids

@reefrebels

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing , we need experienced voices like yourself as well to tell the world

@coco_bold

5 ай бұрын

That doesn't mean humans are not destroying the world, and that climate change isn't happening. Your comment is just dumb and ignorant. So is this pseudo scientific conspiracy theorist Ridd. His stupidity is appalling.

Australia is an example of extremes

Thank you for this enlightening viewpoint. We need more honest analysis such as this. Your bravery is appreciated!

Glad to see that you made it past the censors

@reefrebels

5 ай бұрын

Yes thanks , however YT probably not pushing this content out as much

There was apparently an endangered bush in the way of a pipeline we were building on the darling Downs about 20 yr ago. Our enviros found so much of it, it apparently is now not endangered. It's just that nobody had really looked before.

Totally behind your observations Peter!!!!! Keep telling the inconvenient truth to the world !!!

@reefrebels

4 ай бұрын

Thank you we will keep telling the truth to the world

This is a great point! The thought of the reef only being endangered as soon as scientists started studying it, seems so glaringly obvious when it's pointed out. It's in plain sight but everyone misses it! It's like they're finding problems that aren't there. I just don't understand how all of these, so called intelligent researchers, can't take a step back and understand these basic things.

@gmprice

5 ай бұрын

Agree, these are the ingredients to a good viral tall tale. Highly seductive to want to believe there is something just really obvious and yet the scientists missed it! And we can imagine ourselves one of the few people smart enough to see it. Now, a more skeptical mind might say 'hey this idea is awfully convenient and self-serving'. Is it true that scientists really haven't thought of this? Do they really assume bleaching has never occurred before? You'd have to get away from youtube and read what scientists actually say to find out.

@fiasco2003

5 ай бұрын

Surely the video only quoted one specific scientist as saying that bleaching had not occurred prior to the early observations. So - that's not "all scientists". We seem to have fallen foul of chinese whispers, already.

@user255

5 ай бұрын

_"I just don't understand how all of these, so called intelligent researchers, can't take a step back and understand these basic things."_ Well, the reason is simple; this video is one huge strawman. The scientists have not really claimed coral bleaching is new phenomenon. Instead, they have experimentally verified some causes for it like high temperature, bottom trawling, some forms of chemical pollution, natural reasons, etc. And they use this information to extrapolate and explain the current *global* trend. There are many uncertainties, but the bottom line is clear, global warming is bad thing and the coral protection efforts must be continued.

@margaretarmstrong2445

5 ай бұрын

​@@gmpriceYou do realise that Peter Ridd is in fact a scientist don't you? He has been studying this and other reefs for more than three decades. He was one of the professors at the University in Queensland that he mentioned. That particular University has received billions of dollars in funding to study the causes of coral bleaching so do you really think that they are going to admit that they were wrong? The prime minister that oversaw the original funding is a strong proponent of anthropogenic caused climate change and the renewables 'cure'. The bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef is lauded worldwide as evidence that mankind is causing its demise, even when it is now in perfect health. Peter Ridd continues to put the truth out there even after being treated badly over many years for doing so. I have nothing but respect for this man and I recommend that you take what he says more seriously. I would also recommend looking up the work of Jennifer Marohasy, another knowledgeable researcher and person of integrity. She has also dived at many locations on the reef over decades.

@johncurtis4643

5 ай бұрын

Hi yes it’s like a mass hysteria Maybe our universities are more inclined to indoctrinate rather than teach ?

Thank you Peter. Your videos are of wonder and true science. A big cheer for 2023.

@reefrebels

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for the support and Happy new year to you too

i see your point, we still know very little about the reefs and in such a relatively short scientific area it makes sense we make conclusions based on limited information. but that doesn't necessarily mean we still are not affecting the reefs? there has been a push for oil/gas drilling in the great barrier reef or near it by certain lobbyist groups which would displace the environment. just because the reefs dangers are not as we thought doesn't mean that is out of danger by man.

@reefrebels

5 ай бұрын

The point is perhaps all these are just part of the natural cycle

@user255

5 ай бұрын

@@reefrebels Natural cycle of cyanide and dynamite fishing, sun screen poisoning corals, etc. Also raising temperature does kill corals. This has been verified experimentally.

This video have got *contexted* . It is a badge of honor in my opinion😂

I'm glad somebody put some thought into this. I successfully owned a live reef tank for years and seen for myself just how resilliant coral life can be. Tho not what the media would have you believe

@reefrebels

4 ай бұрын

exactly , theres too much doom in the media

Oh, Oh, Oh! I just had a thought. It's all Captain cooks fault. He left all that nasty foreign biology off the hull of the Endeavour when they crashed into it and that's whats destroying the reef. Darn, I nailed it. Do I get an honorary degree and entry to the Doom and Gloom club :P

Great video Peter. I hope it inspires lots of people to do a little research of their own on our wonderful and resilient Great Barrier Reef. Too many people assume the rhetoric that laudes it as a bleached example of man-made climate change, instead of the beautiful healthy wonder of nature that it is.

The GBR exhibits quantum properties? It is in super position and It doesn't exist until you observe it :P Thank god someone looked at it or I would never had been able to dive it for all those years lol > Happy New Year Dr Ridd

@reefrebels

5 ай бұрын

Happy New Year mate

This is heresy! Logic against the narrative is not permitted.

Stop it! What makes it OK for you to introduce some logic into the discussion!

@BurnettMary

5 ай бұрын

Don’t worry, he hasn’t.

Major points missed by this video: - No one has claimed there was never before coral bleaching. It is question of how *much* it happens. It's better to be careful when talking about such important part of the ecosystem. - High temperature is experimentally verified to kill corals. - There are also many other confirmed reasons for *global* coral decline (example, bottom trawling and many forms of chemical pollution). And some actions have already taken to limit the destruction. Perhaps we see some recovery because these efforts now. But the future still looks bad due global warming.

@margaretarmstrong2445

5 ай бұрын

High temperatures in fact don't always kill corals. Coral has a symbiotic relationship with a type of algae called zooxanthellae, which effectively give the coral their colour. Periods of extreme heat during El Nino heatwave events causes the affected corals closer to the surface to expell their symbiotic partners, or zooxanthellae, which causes the coral to appear bleached. The branch corals can only survive for around ten day without zooxanthellae but the larger corals can survive for weeks or even months in a bleached state by feeding on plankton. The corals can take up fresh zooxanthellae when conditions are more conducive. Plague numbers of the crown of thorn starfish are likely to cause more serious damage to the coral. These starfish are quite large and they eat both the living coral and with it the zooxanthellae as they slowly sweep across its surface leaving behind a stark white and very dead coral. And most of Australia's severe cyclones occur off the Queensland coast which can devastate the parts of the reefs that it crosses. Fortunately we haven't had a severe cyclone for some years now and the reef has been doing what the reef does, repopulate the framework that was left behind after the damage has been done. Which is why it now has the best coverage of the past thirty years and is completely healthy. Oceans and temperatures have been far higher in the distant past, corals are resilient and will always recover. I have snorkelled in the Red Sea and the temperatures in that part of the world are far higher than Queensland. The variety of corals and sea creatures were stunning. The Great Barrier Reef is made up of around 3,000 separate reefs over a length of waters spanning around two thousand kilometres. The entire reef has never been affected by warmer temperatures, cyclones or the crown of thorn starfish at any one time. How lucky are we to have this resilient wonder of nature on our doorstep?

@user255

5 ай бұрын

@@margaretarmstrong2445 You said high temperatures do not kill corals and then continue to describe the mechanism of how high temperature kills corals. _"The branch corals can only survive for around ten day without zooxanthellae ..."_ Yes, exactly, if they do not survive, they die. Right? I never claimed periods of extreme temperature so far have killed *all* corals. _"Oceans and temperatures have been far higher in the distant past"_ Slow changes allow life to adapt, also many other things were different back then.

@PeterWalls-kq6ye

4 ай бұрын

Missed a few ,, cold water (up Wellings from deeper water) dredging of harbours ,this has been admitted by the authorities, and fresh water via flooded River systems... there some of the more likely events.

@tonyclif1

3 ай бұрын

I'm curious why a reply to the OP in this thread got a like from the video creator, but he didn't reply to the comment himself? Is he afraid to reply to criticism?