New research has found that, despite the extensive damage to coral in recent events, there are still 100 reefs on the Great Barrier Reef that are well suited to promoting the regional recovery of the ecosystem after major disturbances. The results publishing 28 November in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Dr Karlo Hock, Prof Peter Mumby, and colleagues from the University of Queensland, CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and the University of Sheffield, suggest that these reefs not only appear to be less at risk of being exposed to damaging effects of bleaching and starfish predation, but are also well connected to other downstream reefs by ocean currents, and therefore possess the potential to provide coral larvae to support the recovery of other reefs.