Heron Island

Heron Island is a coral cay located on the southern section of the Great Barrier Reef, approximately 80km off the coast of Gladstone, Queensland. The island hosts the Heron Island Resort and the University of Queensland’s Research Station (HIRS).

The fringing reefs are well-utilised for snorkel and diving tourism as well as reef research. These activities may be having some unintended impacts. Factors such as extensive development in the nearby Gladstone region and, similar to other coral reefs, global climate change, also pose threats to this marine ecosystem. While there is extensive research undertaken at Heron Island, there are relatively few long-term monitoring projects. 

Project History and Achievements

Reef Check Australia first established monitoring sites on Heron Island as a joint annual collaboration with the University of Queensland’s Remote Sensing Research Centre (RSRC) in 2011.

A total of 17 monitoring sites have been established around Heron Island reef to allow for a   detailed representation of Heron Island reef habitats.

Heron Reefs are highly studied, with hundreds of researchers visiting the island annually through the University of Queensland’s Research Station. Yet, there are limited programs that consistently document long-term reef health. Our collaborative initiative offers a valuable perspective on these reefs, combining a variety of techniques for long-term, cohesive studies.

Reef Monitoring

Teams visited 17 monitoring sites in 2017.  Transects are co-located with UQ Remote Sensing Research Centre survey sites.  At these survey sites geo-referenced benthic photo-transects are conducted. The collected field data is used in combination with high spatial resolution satellite imagery to provide additional condition data to complement benthic community maps of Heron Reef developed by RSRC.  

CoralWatch Coral Health Chart surveys are also collected to specifically assess coral colour as an indicator of coral stress.

Since 2016, our dataset has been used as annual supplementary marine condition information for the Fitzroy Basin Report Card by Fitzroy Partnership for River Health. Environmental report cards are designed to distil complex scientific knowledge along with multiple datasets to determine status and trend of catchment and marine health. This initiative provides regionally relevant reef health information for the Reef Plan Marine Monitoring Program.  See the results from 2017. 

 

Questing for details?

Read more in our regional reports. 

Supporters

Project Supporters

Heron Island research Station | UQ University of Queensland’s Remote Sensing Research Centre 


Project Funders

Lion’s XXXX Island Charity Auction | Our amazing donors 

Image Gallery

Regional Updates

Heron Island Reef (Health) Check 2018!

April 09, 2019
  We're proud to share the monitoring results from our 2018 Heron Island surveys in the newly released Reef Check Australia summary report.  Reef Check Australia has been monitoring sites on Heron Island since 2011 and we continue to work with The University of Queensland’s Remote Sensing Research Centre on this project.     Here's a few titbits from the report to whet your coral appetite! -  The total average hard coral cover recorder across all sites was 42% Eight out of 15 sites had coral cover greater than 50% Most sites had low levels of soft coral (eight out of 15 sites) Coral bleaching was recorded on all sites, but in relatively low levels.   Thanks to The University of Queensland’s Remote Sensing Research Centre, Heron Island Research Station and Heron Island Resort for their in-kind support and advice. And of course a massive thanks to the 2018 Heron Reef Research Team superstars - Chris Roelfsema, Douglas Stetner, Mitch Lyons, Emma Kennedy, Daniel Harris, Kat Markey, Josh Passenger, Eva Kovacs, Rodney Borrego, Jodi Salmond (who also supplied these awesome images) and Stuart Phinn.      
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Reef Check update with Fitzroy Report Card

June 10, 2018
Since 2011, RCA has been monitoring multiple sites on Heron Island as part of a larger collaborative reef research and mapping initiative led by The University of Queensland’s Remote Sensing Research Centre. Heron Island falls within the Fitzroy Marine Zone. The Fitzroy Partnership is a collective of government, agriculture, resources, industry, research and community interests that partner to deliver annual reports on water quality and ecosystem health in the region. Live coral cover is one of five coral indicators utilised to report on marine condition for the Reef Plan Marine Monitoring Program. We work with the Fitzroy Partnership to produce an additional summary report on average percent cover of hard and soft coral for motioning sites on Heron Island scored using Reef Plan Reporting scales for nearshore reefs.  2017 results have just been released as additional information with the annual report card. If you want to see some more info on this site, you can check out the Reef Check summary report. 
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Its all happening on Heron Island

November 10, 2017
For the seventh consecutive year, an RCA team joined the University of Queensland Remote Sensing Research Centre and James Cook University She Flies Drone teams on Heron Island for a week-long reef health monitoring expedition. The team surveyed 16 sites around the Island, contributing long-term reef condition data to support a 16 year effort by UQ RSRC to track reef habitat around this beautiful island. Our busy team reaped the rewards with some amazing scenes of healthy coral, a myriad of sharks and rays and so many turtles! Stay tuned for the Heron Island Report due out shortly! Huge thanks to the University of Queensland Remote Sensing for leading the expedition, and Heron Island Research Centre and Heron Island Resort for their in-kind support of this project.
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