Coral barrier: We are talking about Coral barrier reef none other than of Queensland, Australia. The historic Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s most extraordinary natural vantage points.
Because of its natural inherited beauty, the Great Barrier Reef attracts tourists the most from near and far who want to experience this incredible destination. The reef is made up of over 3000 individual and exclusive reef systems, coral cays, delightful tropical islands, and exquisite golden beaches.
Here are some of the interesting facts about the Great Reef which are hidden under the shell:
- The largest living element on Earth is The Great Barrier Reef is and it is also visible from outer space.
- The location of reef finds its place in the Coral Sea, which is off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
- This picturesque eco-world is spread over the length of 2,300 Km with an area of approximately 350,000 Kilometers in size; the size same as of Japan; 70 million football fields; that is quite mammoth, isn’t it?
- The Great Barrier Reef is old as much as 20,000,000 years.
- There are hundreds of alluring islands; approximately 900 and thousands of reefs which estimates 2900 mesmerizing your eyes.
More than 400 i.e. one-third of the world’s coral species can be found in the Great Barrier Reef. Soft Corals-
- 600 types of hard and soft coral are present over there; having an elaborative view- There is a large group of different kinds of coral on the Great Barrier Reef, including hundreds of species of both hexacorals (hard corals) and octocorals (soft corals), sea pens, blue corals, and sea fans.
Hard corals- Comprising of 411 hard corals.
- The best thing about these corals is that they are generally found in clear water less than 50 meters deep as the algae which are in shallow water need light for photosynthesis.
The Great Reef is a beautiful home to more than 2,900 coral reefs, 600 continental islands, 300 coral cays and thousands of magnificent animal species, which contributes to make it the world’s most complicated ecosystems that encapsulate: 1500 species of fish
Mollusks
Echinoderms, sea snakes
30 species of whales
134 species of sharks
Intelligent dolphins
Seabirds
Amongst 7 species endangered, 6 marine turtles are found in the great reef
Shorebirds
Dugongs (closely related to dolphins and whales)
- In November, the coral reef gets very busy during Reproduction season – also known as ‘sex on the reef’. The increase in the number of species is due to the water temperature and the phase of the moon.
- Taking aside the climatic change and impact of humans, the worst natural hunter of the reef is the crown-of-thorns starfish. This starfish is well-known for stripping reefs of nearly all living coral, but, fortunately, new corals can are generally able to re-grow after the bursting and stripping of corals.
- In 1981, by UNESCO World Heritage, The Great Barrier Reef is remarked as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
