Race to save our coral reefs as half have been destroyed in 30 years

Half of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed and if we don’t act now, we’re risking the loss of the oceans most beautiful and essential commodities.

A comprehensive record of the state of the world’s vanishing coral reefs has been released after the Catlin Seaview Survey (CSS) teamed up with scientists around the world to create what they say will be a “step-change” in the battle to protect disappearing coral reefs.

Across the world, 50 per cent of coral reefs have been destroyed in the last 30 years and the fight is on to save them, researchers said.

Each year between one per cent and two per cent of world coral reefs are destroyed, largely by shoreline pollution and climate change.

The CSS said scientists have long needed a comprehensive record of the state of the world’s reefs.

Up to now it was not possible to do that on a massive scale, but now the free-to-access Catlin Global Reef Record has gone live.

It involves a range of images captured from the CSS’s huge survey operation.

The record builds on a partnerships with Google Street View last year which aimed to provide a comprehensive record of the Great Barrier Reef.

Using specially designed tablet-operated underwater camera, the project collected over 50,000 images using continuous high-resolution, 360-degree panoramic imagery.

When stitched together, these images allowed people to choose a location along the Great Barrier Reef, dip underwater and go for a viewer-controlled virtual dive in Google Maps.

The Global Reef Record can be viewed here.