(Image courtesy of Meryl Larkin (Credit David Harasti))

We’ve all heard the reports about the Great Barrier Reef. With mass bleaching events and reductions in size, its disappearance has been a wake-up call to consider our actions and the fragility of our natural environment.

The Northeast Australian coastline is not our only coral ecosystem threatened.  Closer to Sydney, Dendronephthya australis, the purple cauliflower coral of Port Stephens is in trouble. 

2SER Breakfast spoke to Meryl Larkin, a PHD researcher from Southern Cross University, about the rare, endangered, species of coral and its rapid decline.