The sheer size of the Great Barrier Reef—a 1,429-mile-long ribbon of turquoise roughly half the size of Texas—is difficult to wrap your head around at sea level. But when you slip below its jewel-hued waters, you get the drift. On my first visit to the reef as a kid growing up in Australia, I was awed by its coral outcrops the size of small houses, huge reef fish, and even bigger turtles. Everything about the Great Barrier Reef is big.
It’s no secret this World Heritage-listed wonder is also in big trouble, narrowly escaping an “In Danger” listing by UNESCO in July 2026 after a series of mass bleaching events that saw coral cover reduced by 14 to 30 percent in 2025. Upon handing down its decision, the UNESCO Committee noted Australia’s collaborative efforts toward the reef’s long-term protection. Tourists to Australia have long been part of this: Every visitor contributes to conservation via the environmental management charge built into tour prices. Now, amid increasing climate-related pressures on the reef, travelers are being invited to play a more active role.
A new citizen science trip at the Great Barrier Reef
Today, I’m heading to Moore Reef, about 90 minutes from the Tropical North Queensland tourism hub of Cairns by motor catamaran, to participate in one of the region’s newest citizen science experiences: a Reef Recovery Day. These are held up to three times a month at Reef Magic, the newest permanent pontoon on the Great Barrier Reef.
On a regular day trip to Reef Magic, visitors get about five hours to snorkel, scuba dive, take glass-bottom boat tours, and hang out on the three-level pontoon, which has an underwater observatory. On a Reef Recovery Day, which has no extra cost, they also get the opportunity to spend part of their day helping trained marine biologists and cultural guides tie coral fragments onto “reef stars”.
Reef Magic Pontoon
Courtesy of Reef Magic
These hexagonal steel structures coated in resin and sand are then placed on degraded areas of Moore Reef (one of more than 2,900 individual reefs forming the world’s largest living ecosystem) to stabilize loose coral rubble and support the rapid growth of new coral in a fraction of the time it would take the reef to regenerate naturally.
As we gather around the reef star workstation, marine biologist Eric Fisher, who serves as biology manager at GBR Biology (the research and edutourism arm of Reef Magic’s parent company, Experience Co.), explains why this works: “Coral needs a stable substrate to recover. The corals on the reef stars will grow three times as fast because they don’t have to spend any energy trying to attach themselves to the bottom.”
I put on gardening gloves to protect my hands from the corals’ sharp exoskeletons and then select a fragment of staghorn coral (one of three fast-growing species used on reef stars) foraged from the sea floor earlier this morning and attach it to a reef star using plastic zip ties. It’s reassuring to learn that Fisher’s team is on the precipice of switching to a similarly durable bio string after trialing nearly two dozen plastic alternatives.
It’s fiddly work attaching 15 “fragments of opportunity” to each reef star, but it’s also incredibly satisfying. Within just a few minutes, the first reef star is ready to be placed by onboard experts. For master reef guide and Indigenous cultural guide Lazarus “Laz” Gibson-Friday, it’s not just a social conservation activity but also an important cultural practice.
“Looking after nature has always been a part of our culture, so the reef recovery project is like our way of giving back to the reef,” says Gibson-Friday, whose ancestors have lived in harmony with this epic ecosystem since the modern reef was formed some 9,000 years ago as sea levels rose during the last ice age. Learning about the layers of culture embedded in the reef as I work is a poignant reminder that its value extends far beyond its ecological role.
Snorkeling to see the results
The pontoon is staffed by marine biologists, reef guides, and Indigenous guides, who can provide scientific information and cultural context about the reef and GBR Biology’s restoration work.
Courtesy of Tourism Tropical North Queensland
The project runs all day, with room for about half a dozen tourists to assist at a time, for as long as they like. After my turn, I pass my gloves to another eager volunteer and join Fisher on a guided snorkeling safari (available at an additional cost) to the restoration site on a section of the reef damaged by two major cyclones since 2011.
What begins as a barren field of rubble beneath us suddenly shifts to a vibrant coral forest. Patrolled by color-popping parrotfish, it looks like a normal, healthy reef—until I spot a section of metal underneath a cluster of neon-purple coral. This reef, I realize, was created entirely by reef stars.
“Can you believe these reef stars have only been here for a few years?” says Fisher, who still seems surprised himself. A newer section of reef stars nearby forms a geometric mosaic atop the rubble, the frames beginning to disappear beneath their flourishing coral crowns.
Protected from the swell (and the brunt of cyclones), the area of the reef beside the pontoon is much healthier and swarming with tropical fish, including an enormous Māori wrasse.
But Fisher is keen to show off his favorite spot on the back (open ocean) side of the reef known as Pressure Point. I’ve snorkeled and scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef dozens of times, but as I drift along this teeming coral wall on my second snorkeling safari of the day, I struggle to recall another slice of the reef so magical. Between its rich coral cover and diversity of marine life—including the clownfish-guarded anemones I spot swaying in the current and gray reef sharks cruising the depths below—Pressure Point is the poster child for the resilience of this dynamic ecosystem, which has seen coral cover increase across the reef since the last major bleaching event in early 2025.
The ripple effect of participation
Reef restoration supports coral growth, which in turn supports fish life.
Courtesy of Tourism Tropical North Queensland
More than 1,500 reef stars have been installed on Moore Reef since GBR Biology and its partners launched the project in 2020; the first batches spawned for the first time in 2025. Up to 50 additional reef stars are now added to the site on each Reef Recovery Day. Reef stars have also successfully been used to rehabilitate other areas of the Great Barrier Reef, including Green Island closer to Cairns, where a rubble field the size of a tennis court has been transformed into a thriving reef in just six years. These projects are small wins for such a large reef, but Fisher believes their conservation value is greater than the sum of the reef stars.
“Numerous studies have shown that hands-on conservation has an effect on how people think about their environment,” says Fisher. “By getting people involved in this one small action on the reef, it can have a huge amplification.”
