Island and ringlets are scattered across the Choral Reeef. These are often referred to as Atolls or Cays, which range in size up to 300000 square Kilometeres.
And make ship navigation especially difficult. Te Atolls are home to billions of different species of animals, which include
– Varieties of dolphins and whales,
- and ,
- More than 1500 species of fish
-200 species of bird life
-4000 types of mollusc
and many many more.
The Reef itself is made up of billions of tiny skeletons or polyps –which are tiny, live creatures, which join together to form colonies. Each polyp is a tiny jelly-like blob crowned by tentacles, and looks not unlike an anemone, but much smaller. Each polyp lives inside a shell of aragonite, a type of calcium carbonate, which is the hard shell we recognise as coral. The polyps join together to create forests of coloured coral in interesting fan, antler, and brain and plate shapes.
There are many different types of coral, some are slow growing and live to be hundreds of years old, others are faster growing. Algae create the colours of coral. Only live coral is coloured. Dead coral is white.
A major threat towards the reef is herds of starfish (Crown of Thorns), which feed on the Coral and eventually destroy parts of the Coral entirely. The Australian government have made large attempts to limit destruction.
The reefs are also very sensitive to Climate change and changes in movement of water; therefore the reef is under threat from El Nino and Global warming.
Problems presented by human activity and development is having a major negative effect on the reef e.g. excess minerals being dumped in to the sea, oil.
Tourism also has a negative impact. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most popular attractions in the world. The reef is so fragile that by merely walking on a small part or driving a boat too close destroys thousands of coral. Not mentioning all the fuel, anchors being dropped sun tan lotion and other forms of pollution being spilled in to the sea. But, more than 2 million people visit the reef each year generating more than $AU1 billion in tourism dollars, making tourism a major earner for the northeastern Australian economy. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world and is listed as a world heritage site and a first class holiday destination.
The combination of glorious weather unpolluted rainforest, white sandy beaches, and an ocean varying in colour from blue to turquoise to green, ensures it's where the world wants to go to lie on the beach, swim, surf, snorkel, sail, bush walk and bird watch, there fore all efforts are being made to ensure that this advantage we have will last forever.
