Documents Regarding The Great Southern Reef Marine Heatwave.

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 28 Feb 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

This FOI release contains a May 2025 letter from leading Australian scientists to Environment Minister Murray Watt requesting urgent federal investment in a National Monitoring Program for the Great Southern Reef following mass mortality of 278 marine species across South Australia since February 2025. The event was triggered by a harmful algal bloom fuelled by a marine heatwave. Scientists note this represents a repeat call—they had previously written to then-Minister Tanya Plibersek in October 2023 requesting $40 million over 10 years for dedicated monitoring, which was not actioned. The letter documents broader climate-driven impacts including NSW/Victoria/Tasmania sea urchin crises and a 2011 Western Australian marine heatwave affecting over 4000km of coastline. Economic modelling predicts a 20% habitat decline could cost the Australian economy $30 billion over two decades. The scientists argue monitoring infrastructure is essential to