As mentioned above, these reefs are very small, often little more than a few tennis courts in size. At Hay Point, there is a very small, but healthy, coral reef growing right beside the wharf.

In the case of Townsville, the nearest coral is only a few kilometres from the shipping channel. It is simply inconceivable that the GBR is significantly affected by dredging.Īlthough the GBR itself is not affected by dredging, it is not obvious that the Mediocre Fringing Reefs are so safe. Measurable affects even in the down current direction are confined to a few kilometres, and none of the ports is up-current of the GBR. And these are the distances to the closest reefs – the distances to the rest of the reefs of the GBR averages around 1 000 km. Hay Point is the most distant at 110 km and Cairns, the closest port to any reef is 25 km. When considering the effect of dredging on the GBR, it is important to recall that all the ports, and especially the major ports, are a long way from the GBR (see figure below).

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