Of course it did. As if coral is a non-resilient species.
Coral cover has bounced back across two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef, but scientists say its long-term health remains at risk from climate change.
The northern and central sections of the reef have the highest levels of coral cover recorded in 36 years of monitoring by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
However coral cover has declined in the southern section, mainly due to ongoing outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish.
Dr Mike Emslie leads the agency’s long-term monitoring program and says the reef has shown it can still recover if given the chance.
He says the increased coral cover from Cape York south to Proserpine is the result of a few years of relative calm.
While the reef has suffered negative effects from mass coral bleaching events in 2020 and again this summer, they weren’t anywhere near as deadly for coral as the ones in 2016 and 2017.
Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef, but climate change looms