Introduction Coral Reefs are found in circumtropical shallow tropical waters along the shores of islands and continents such as Australia. Corals thrive in these nutrient poor waters and they are sensitive to water temperature, salinity, UV radiation, opacity and nutrient quantity. The reef is mainly comprised of calcium carbonate from living and dead scleractinian corals. Marine life and plants live in close harmony with the corals creating a tight ecosystem that has extremely high biodiversity and productivity. Due to this reason coral reefs are referred as 'the Tropical Rainforests of the Oceans.' The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef, and is also one of the 7 wonders of the natural world. The Great Barrier is currently under threat by a variety of factors, mainly climate change and elevated sea tempto eratures. What is Coral Bleaching? A large variety of coral, including those found in the Great Barrier Reef, have a special symbiotic relationship with a tiny marine algae called zooxanthellae that live inside the tissue of the coral and efficiently produces up to 90% of the coral's food/energy that is required to grow and reproduced. The zooxanthallae give the coral most of its colour. Coral Bleaching occurs when this relationship between the coral host and the algae breaks down to due external factors. Without the zooxanthallae, the coral organism's tissue becomes transparent and its bright white skeleton is revealed. This gives it its bleach colour. Once Corals bleach, they begin to starve due to their lack of the marine algae. Some Corals are able to feed themselves, but most struggle to survive as the zooxanthallae is their main energy provider. This stress increases the susceptibility to disease and decreases coral growth and reproduction. If the stress persists, corals often simply die. Coral reefs that have high rates of coral death following bleach (for example, the Great Barrier Reef) can take many years or dec