Sunscreen is extremely important to protect your skin, particularly under the harsh Australian sun. But did you know that sunscreen can cause damage to Australia’s reefs? This is why you should be travelling Australia with reef-safe sunscreen. Let me explain.

On a recent day trip to Green Island in The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Queensland, I was asked “Are you wearing reef safe sunscreen?”. To which I grabbed my sunscreen out of my bag and began to read the information on the bottle because I really didn’t know. Luckily, it was reef safe sunscreen, because without it they said, I couldn’t go in the water. This is because when sunscreen washes off your skin it mixes with the water and can contribute to coral bleaching. So no matter if you are an international visitor to Australia, or a local driving your big lap of Australia if you plan on going into any body of Australian water, and Australia has a lot of water, you should be wearing reef-safe sunscreen.

About Coral Reefs

Coral reef’s are often called the ‘rainforests of the sea’ and for good reason. They produce half of the Earth’s oxygen and absorb nearly one-third of the world’s carbon dioxide in the ocean. But coral reefs are also beautiful, with vibrant colours that also provide a home to an abundant of marine life. And Australia has a number of reefs including Ningaloo Reef off the coast of Western Australia and of course, the world-renowned Great Barrier Reef where lots of people visit them every year to swim, snorkel and scuba dive.

What is Coral Bleaching?

Coral bleaching occurs in corals when they become stressed by condition changes in light, temperature or nutrients. The changes can cause the coral to expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white. Coral bleaching also limits coral’s growth and development, meaning, it can’t reproduce the way it should.

What is Causing Corals to Bleach?

The two main reasons causing corals to bleach are warming oceans and the use of non reef-safe sunscreens.

Warm Oceans

With global warming, water temperatures have been rising. When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae and start turning white. When a coral bleaches, it isn’t dead, just really stressed, and it can come back in the right environment, but yes, the more stress can lead to the coral dying.

Non Reef-Safe Sunscreen Chemicals

As corals are living things, they suck in nutrients to survive. They draw in what is around them. When you hit the water your sunscreen starts to wash off and mixes with the water. When the chemicals in the sunscreen get into the water, they can cause damage to the coral by adding to the bleaching process. They can also be toxic for marine life. This is why reef-safe sunscreen is necessary, particularly when swimming or snorkelling in and around reefs.

How is Reef-Safe Sunscreen Different?

There are two things making reef-safe sunscreen different. Firstly, studies have shown three common UV-blocking chemicals, oxybenzone, octocrylene and octinoxate are the culprits in sunscreen causing coral bleaching. As a result, sunscreens containing these have been banned in a number of countries including Hawaii, the island nation of Palau, the US Virgin Islands and other countries. And scientists are now producing reef-safe sunscreens. A reef-safe sunscreen is a sunscreen free of these chemical ingredients that are known to help bleaching coral.

Secondly, the particles in a sunscreen must be non-nano. This means the particle size of the sunscreen must be above 100 nanometers. If the particle size of the sunscreen is below 100 nanometers, the coral can absorb the particles. This is harmful to them, stresses them, and causing the coral bleaching.

Reef-Safe Sunscreens

Your skin is your biggest organ, and it needs protecting from the harsh elements of the sun. To help protect you, you should wear sunscreen, but reef-safe sunscreen. Things to look for in reef-safe sunscreen:

1. Sunscreen without the chemicals – oxybenzone, octinoxate, or octocrylene
2. Avoid spray sunscreen as they contain particles smaller than 100 nanometers.
3. Choose sunscreen that has a ‘reef-safe’ label or says ‘reef-friendly’.

Here are Some Reef-Safe Sunscreens on the Market

If you are wondering where to buy reef-safe sunscreen well, they are sold in supermarkets, pharmacies and online. A couple of popular reef-safe sunscreen brands include Sun Bum and Blue Lizard, both made for the harsh Australian sun.

So Will You be Travelling Australia with Reef-Safe Sunscreen?

While climate change is one of the biggest factors impacting on marine life, sunscreen is adding to that. I think it is pretty obvious, if you care about Australia’s reefs, making the change to reef-safe sunscreen will help. Make the right choice by wearing reef-safe sunscreen for your next tropical vacation. It’s only a small change you need to make to your Australian beach packing list or even a road trip packing list. With reef-safe sunscreen, you can protect your skin and coral reefs at the same time – sounds good to me!