pause and actual mortality survey conducted in late two thousand and sixteen also by the air sea center of excellence for coral reef studies proved a mixed bag the northern third of the reef was devastated losing an estimated sixty five percent of live coral coverage but the lower two thirds of the reef the area where the vast majority of reef tourism occurs escaped relatively unharmed spared by cooler waters from the coral sea just outside the city of townsville which sits at the southern tip of the great barrier reef a group of scientists are fighting to save coral reefs not just from bleaching events now but from the effects of climate change yet to come one of the goals of marine research in a time of global change is to gain insight into how marine systems like the great barrier reef may look into the future to achieve this researchers need to replicate and manipulate ocean conditions in controlled environments in other words literally bringing the ocean into the lab and that is exactly what is being done at the most advanced research aquarium in the world australia's national sea simulator. a t