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Coral Spawning and the Night Dive

The water temperature is warm, it’s a few days past the full moon and it’s the time of year when marine biologists and dive enthusiasts get excited!

On cue, the annual phenomenon of coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef occurred in late November and Silverswift and the Night Dive headed out to Norman Reef over three nights to witness the spectacle.    

Video Footage (thanks Satoshi Kajimoto from indepth)

                                                                                                 
 
Described as “an upside-down snowstorm of millions of sperm and eggs”, coral spawning is when the adult coral releases millions of small white eggs into the water. The eggs float to the surface leaving a beautiful white wispy trail and form slicks which can be 9km long and last up to 22 hours.

Coral spawning was unknown to science until 1982, when several marine biologists working on the Great Barrier Reef observed it in the wild for the first time. It’s Mother Nature’s way of maintaining a consistently robust coral gene pool.