Great Barrier Reef, Australia CNN —As the early-morning sun rises over the Great Barrier Reef, its light pierces the turquoise waters of a shallow lagoon, bringing more than a dozen turtles to life. CNN witnessed bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in mid-February, on five different reefs spanning the northern and southern parts of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) ecosystem. “It’s a die-off,” said Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a climate scientist at the University of Queensland in Australia and chief scientist at The Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Our destination is Lady Elliot Island, a remote coral cay perched on top of the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. — Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort Guano miners once stripped Lady Elliot Island of its topsoil.

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Persons: Elliot Island, ”, Kate Quigley, “ We’re, Ove Hoegh, I’m, Guldberg, ‘, Elliot, Peter Gash, “, ” Gash, Lady Elliot, ” Peter Gash, CNN Gash, Derek Manzello, Peter Harrison, “ We’ve, ” Harrison, ” David Ritter, ” Ritter, David Wachenfeld Organizations: Australia CNN —, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, CNN, Minderoo, University of Queensland, Eco, Reef Watch, Southern Cross University, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Greenpeace, Australia CNN Scientists, AIMS Locations: Australia, El, Brisbane, Queensland, Red Sea, Indonesia, Seychelles, Caribbean, Florida, “, New South Wales, Greenpeace Australia, Briggs, Elliot Island