Scientists from the University of Technology Sydney are searching for “super corals,” species that are naturally more resilient to environmental changes. They hope they can be used as a blueprint to support other corals in the harsher environments of the future.

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced its greatest annual loss of live coral across most of its expanse in four decades of record-keeping, Australian authorities say.

Parts of Australia’s iconic reef have just suffered their worst annual decline since records began almost 40 years ago. After years of recovery, back-to-back climate stressors have driven a sharp drop in coral cover – the percentage of a reef’s surface covered in live coral – across its three regions.