MantaRay Bay Coral pavement

MantaRay Bay, on the north side of Hook Island, in the Whitsundays Island group was badly damaged from Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017. Coral reefs in the bay were reduced to bare pavement, with no traces or fragments of reefs remaining. 400 tonnes of coral bommies were washed up on the beach. A few months later, these bommies were pushed back into the subtidal (by QPSW and GBRMPA) with the hope that the bommies can serve as recruitment habitat for fish and corals while the bay recovers. NESP 4.3 - Best practice coral restoration for the Great Barrier Reef is supporting this project by monitoring the recovery in the bay. This picture shows the bare pavement remaining of the coral reefs in Manta Ray Bay.