It’s not exactly news that the iconic Great Barrier Reef has been spluttering along on its final legs, but now scientists have decided that it’s time to issue an obituary.

In a year where the world has said its farewells to some iconic names in the entertainment industry, it’s doubtful that this goodbye will lead to as many insufferable social media posts.

That being said, it’s certainly deserving of a mention.

Here’s Outside Online and their obituary:

The Great Barrier Reef of Australia passed away in 2016 after a long illness. It was 25 million years old.

For most of its life, the reef was the world’s largest living structure, and the only one visible from space. It was 1,400 miles long, with 2,900 individual reefs and 1,050 islands. In total area, it was larger than the United Kingdom, and it contained more biodiversity than all of Europe combined. It harbored [sic] 1,625 species of fish, 3,000 species of mollusk, 450 species of coral, 220 species of birds, and 30 species of whales and dolphins. Among its many other achievements, the reef was home to one of the world’s largest populations of dugong and the largest breeding ground of green turtles.

Pretty jarring stuff, right? A few more snippets:

To say the reef was an extremely active member of its community is an understatement. The surrounding ecological community wouldn’t have existed without it…

In 1981, the same year that UNESCO designated the reef a World Heritage Site and called it “the most impressive marine area in the world,” it experienced its first mass-bleaching incident…

No one knows if a serious effort could have saved the reef, but it is clear that no such effort was made. On the contrary, attempts to call attention to the reef’s plight were thwarted by the government of Australia itself, which in 2016, shortly after approving the largest coal mine in its history, successfully pressured the United Nations to remove a chapter about the reef from a report on the impact of climate change on World Heritage sites.

And the rather poignant ending:

The Great Barrier Reef was predeceased by the South Pacific’s Coral Triangle, the Florida Reef off the Florida Keys, and most other coral reefs on earth. It is survived by the remnants of the Belize Barrier Reef and some deepwater corals.

How long those corals will survive remains to be seen, but I doubt this proclamation will do much to prevent their seemingly inevitable decline.

[source:outsideonline]