Camp Island

Camp Island is dominated by macroalgae, with levels consistently above 30%. Hard coral cover, while largely unaffected by TC Debbie with only small losses was severely impacted by a mass bleaching event in 2020; decreasing hard coral by 54% from October 2019 to June 2021. Hard coral cover has started to significantly increase as of May 2022, since the 2020 bleaching event.

The 2020 major bleaching (almost 40% of hard corals) due to the accumulated heat stress has not occurred since at the same scale despite some prolonged warmer periods during both 2021 and 2022 summers. Sediment found on hard coral colonies during surveys has increased since monitoring began but subsequent damage has yet to be observed as a result. Damage from predation and disease, whilst low levels, has been consistently recorded.