Ningaloo reef; a stunning ecosystem at risk

Perched on the north-western edge of Australia’s stunning continent, the pristine waters of Ningaloo reef cover around 5000 square kilometres of rich ecosystem.  

This World Heritage listed site is home to an array of spectacular marine life from the iconic whale sharks to dugongs, turtles and over 500 species of fish.

People flock from around the world to swim with whale sharks, dive on the spectacular reef, and immerse themselves in the turquoise waters.  

For Exmouth local and underwater filmmaker Nush Freedman, the reef is a magical place. 

“Ningaloo is unlike anywhere else. You never know what you’re going to see. You have these huge gentle giants like the whale sharks, humpback whales, manta rays and then everything down to the tiny little nudibranchs and slugs and worms and tiny fish. Literally the only word to describe it is magic.” 

We can’t imagine a world without this natural wonder but fossil fuel companies continuing to burn climate wrecking coal and gas pose a very real threat to the reef. We are seeing coral bleaching, marine heatwaves and ecosystem collapse in reefs around the world, and Ningaloo is already suffering through some of these events including severe coral bleaching.

Our current nature laws do not protect these wild places and the species living there. Fossil fuel companies like Woodside are allowed to run rampant and climate impacts are not even mentioned as a consideration under our current nature laws.   

Why now?

This year, a devastating marine heatwave has bleached Ningaloo’s centuries-old coral structures like never before – and it's fuelled by gas giants like Woodside.  

Exmouth local and documentary filmmaker Andre Rerekura took us back to those devastating few months where he watched the reef literally change before his eyes.

"Things started to get really hot, the water temp skyrocketed and we just started noticing a lot of bleaching and we thought ‘oh this isn’t a good sign’. You know we were almost hoping for a cyclone just to cool things down.  I was looking at the temperature everyday just crossing my fingers that it would drop a degree or two.

The ocean was just cooking and you could feel it.  

You’d be in the ocean, swimming around the reefs and you could see bleaching happening and you could just feel the stress from it.  

After a few months of these record-high water temperatures, almost in the blink of an eye everything went from bleached white to dead. It was heartbreaking, holding that hope for so long.”

The only way to protect Ningaloo, the communities and livelihoods that depend on healthy future, is to stop coal and gas approvals and include the impacts of climate change in national nature laws.

The government cannot keep caving to industry while failing to protect people and planet. Climate impacts must be a key inclusion in new nature laws.   

Australia’s nature laws are badly broken, and they are failing to protect Ningaloo from climate-fuelled coral bleaching and mounting industrial threats.   

Over 542,000 people have signed the petition to demand national environment laws that actually protect nature – and you can too.  

We call on the Albanese government to do the right thing and protect nature. Labor must fix our broken laws NOW, not make them worse.  

We’ve protected Ningaloo before... 

In 2021, ACF exposed Woodsides dirty plan to dump 2,529-tonnes worth of an old oil rig on the doorstep of the Ningaloo World Heritage Area.  

The structure was riddled with heavy metals, old plastics and polyurethane foam, and Woodside wanted to quietly sink it, rather than tow it to shore and dispose of it responsibly. Woodside quietly shelved its plan after ACF raised the alarm and they received public scrutiny, but as the threats to Ningaloo mount – it needs our voices more than ever. 

There are few places in the world where you can swim with the world’s largest fish, marvel at manta rays, dugongs, and nesting sea turtles, and step off the beach straight into an underwater wonderland bursting with life and colour.  

Ningaloo Reef is one of them. Let’s protect it before it’s wrecked forever.