The Sydney Morning Herald logo

Ningaloo Reef

Advertisement
Alyla Browne stars in Whale Shark Jack.

This Aussie teen works with major film stars. Now she’s swimming with whale sharks

Alyla Browne hasn’t even started her final year of school, but she’s doing her own underwater stunts.

  • Bridget McManus

Latest

Santos want to explore the Bedout basin.

Fears for Ningaloo, World Heritage sites in pushback against Santos’ drilling plans

According to Santos’ own modelling, the “remote” worst-case scenario for hydrocarbon spills could reach as far south as Shark Bay, or a few hundred kilometres south of Timor-Leste.

  • Hamish Hastie
Tim Winton at Ningaloo.

How Tim Winton hopes to inspire a generation of ‘ocean defenders’

It is with perfect timing that the first children’s book the acclaimed Australian author has produced in 20 years is about to be released next week.

  • Victoria Laurie
The Exmouth Gulf was an important habitat for humpback whales and other species.

‘Globally significant’ Exmouth Gulf to be transformed into marine park

The historic announcement comes after years of work, and is the recommendation of a taskforce that consulted the community, businesses, traditional owners and conservation groups. 

  • Holly Thompson
At Pittwater House, the playground is co-ed while the classrooms are single-sex.

Selective schools coaching a burden on young students

The design of the selective testing system has normalised the commercialisation of coaching, making it a necessary part of the schooling pathway. But does it really help the students it’s meant to benefit?

Bleaching at Ningaloo’s Tantabiddi Reef.

Record-breaking coral bleaching lays waste to WA’s most prized reefs

A wave of coral mortality has circumnavigated the globe and finally devastated what was previously considered resilient, including the state’s most famous reef.

  • Emma Young
Advertisement
Ningaloo Reef has suffered a bleaching event.

‘You realise your children are probably never going to see Ningaloo the way you saw it’

The west-coast reef has largely escaped the curse of coral bleaching that has blighted the Great Barrier Reef. This year, that’s changed.

  • Bianca Hall
Kassel Germany Billboards and other materials protesting K+S saltworks proposal for Exmouth Gulf region

German industrial giant dumps Exmouth Gulf project after fierce fight

For many years, the West Australian community has battled against the industrialisation of the area known as Ningaloo’s nursery. They’re now celebrating a “major win”.

  • Emma Young
Photos from coral bleaching along the Ningaloo coast in February.

Unprecedented heatwave causes mass bleaching of Ningaloo, Kimberley reefs

Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn raised the issue in parliament, stating the scale and duration of a marine heatwave had led to mass bleaching.

  • Holly Thompson
Ningaloo bleaching February 2025.

‘Underwater bushfire’: Half of WA coastline enduring reef-threatening marine heatwave

“We really need to grasp the fact that the greatest economic opportunity for business and the necessity for science is to stop building fossil fuels,” Andrew Forrest said.

  • Poppy Johnston