IT HAS been hailed as the "world's greatest sex show” and, if a local tourism operator's observation is correct, it is set to come to the Whitsundays.

The Courier Mail last Saturday reported that coral spawning had been recorded at 10 different sites in North Queensland between Heron Island and Port Douglas.

And local Whitsunday Bullet tourism operator Chey Taupaki, who has operated in the region for 13 years, said he saw a "few strings” of coral spawn along Blue Pearl Bay as recently as last Monday.

"As soon as we get a northerly wind I'm very positive we will see a lot more,” he said.

Tourism Whitsundays chairman Al Grundy said there was a connection to the moon and coral spawning and predicted that the incredible coral spawning event would reach fruition between late November and early December.

Coral spawning only occurs at night once every year and is the process in which colonies of coral reefs simultaneously release tiny eggs and sperm into the ocean, resulting in an "underwater blizzard” of billions of colourful flakes, which is a sight to behold.

When an egg is fertilised by the sperm, it develops into coral larvae, otherwise known as planula, which floats on the water for several days or weeks before settling on the ocean floor.

According to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, spawning occurs on a large scale, but doesn't happen across the entire reef "all at once”.

The time corals spawn is dependant on location, with inshore reefs usually spawning after the first full moon in October, while outer reefs usually spawn during November or December.