Holbourne Island

Holbourne Island has comparatively very low macroalgae cover and on average double the hard coral cover of Camp Island; however, TC Debbie was shown to have had a devastating impact on coral cover, with a loss of more than 75% of coral cover. Recovery of these communities remains, to-date, negligible. In 2020 sample sites were adjusted to monitor more active community sites, where hard coral has since shown stability and progressive increases.

The major regional scale bleaching event in early 2020 led to significant bleaching of Holbourne Island hard coral communities but to a lesser extent than at Camp Island; likely in part due to the slightly deeper sites at this location. Following the same trends as Camp Island, Holbourne corals also have an increased pattern of sediment found on corals, some predation and disease but with little measurable damage as a result.