The front of Kabbikane Reef is exposed to the prevailing wind and sea conditions found within the lagoon of the Great Barrier Reef. Manta tow surveys were conducted on the reef slope. The reef slope is generally moderate dropping off into approximately 15m of water to a gently sloping reef base composed mainly of sand. The reef structure has few features including bommies.
The benthic community was dominated by coralline/turf algae, but hard coral, soft coral and sand were also common. Hard coral cover on the reef front was moderate with no one coral genus dominant. The dominant coral lifeform was massive, but other forms such as sub-massive, tabulate and encrusting corals were also present in decreasing order of abundance. Coral bleaching was not present.
The fish abundance on the front of Kabbikane Reef was moderate. Conspicuous groups of reef fishes included surgeonfish, coral trout, fusiliers, parrotfish and damselfish. No crown-of-thorns starfish were observed on the front of Kabbikane Reef .
