Normanby Island (Queensland) facts for kids
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Northern Australia |
| Coordinates | 17°12′25″S 146°04′37″E / 17.207°S 146.077°E |
| Area | 0.07 km2 (0.027 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
| State | Queensland |
Normanby Island is a small island in northern Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Frankland Islands group. This group of islands is about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) north-east of Babinda. It is also south-east of the city of Cairns.
The Frankland Islands are full of amazing sea creatures. Many animals live there all the time, and others visit during their migrations. One special visitor is the green sea turtle, which lays its eggs on Normanby Island. The island is surrounded by a rich coral reef system. This makes it a popular spot for tour groups from Cairns who want to explore the reef. Normanby Island is quite small, covering about 7 hectares (0.07 square kilometers).
Studying the Reef Around Normanby Island
Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science have studied the reefs around the Frankland Islands. They set up special research spots in 1995 and 1998. These spots helped them check on the health of the corals over time. They looked at the reefs in 1999 and again in 2001.
Coral Bleaching Event
In April 1998, a big event called coral bleaching happened. This is when corals get stressed and turn white. It's like they are losing their color. Over 60% of the hard corals around the Frankland Islands were affected. Most types of corals bleached badly. However, one type, called poritids, was not affected as much. Less than 10% of these corals bleached.
After the bleaching, many corals died. This caused a big drop in the amount of coral covering the reefs. Some corals, like pocilloporids, were hit very hard. Almost all of them died. Even the poritids saw a small decrease in their numbers. Overall, the hard coral cover on the Frankland Islands reefs went from 67% down to 37%. This happened on both the eastern and western sides of the islands.
Soft Corals and Starfish
Soft corals were also affected by the bleaching. More than 70% of them bleached. But it seems they recovered well. Their numbers actually increased between 1998 and 1999.
The eastern reefs also faced another challenge in 1998. They were affected by the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci). These starfish eat corals and can cause a lot of damage. After all these problems, some new small corals started to grow back by December 2000. This showed the reef was slowly trying to recover.
