The Great Barrier Reef is one of the remarkable natural gifts of Australia. It is the largest coral reef of the world consisting of 2,900 individual reefs and 900 picturesque islands having sun-soaked and golden beaches, all scattered over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is the world's biggest structure which is manmade. This structure is made of tiny organisms which are known as coral polyps. It explores the wide diversity and has been selected as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981.
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| Snorkeling with Sea Turtles |
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CNN tagged The Great Barrier Reef as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It is the state icon of Queensland National Trust. The Great Barrier Reef has become an attractive tourist spot because of its natural picturesque beauty. Any tourist can enjoy snorkelling, bare boats, scuba diving, helicopter tours, cruise ship tours, glass-bottomed boat viewing and semi-submersibles or educational tours. This reef has been used mostly by the Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islanders and is important for the culture and spirituality of that place. Tourism has become a very important economic activity for this place which generates around $3 billion each year.
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| Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
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| Snorkeling Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
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| Scuba Diving Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
The Great Barrier Reef starts from Torres Strait to the Fraser Island. Queensland has experienced volcanic eruptions which lead to the central and shield volcano flows. The history of development of Great Barrier Reef is quite complex. The reefs increase by 1-3 cm each year and vertically grow from 1 to 25 cm, but cannot grow more than sea level. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority or (GBRMPA) shows evidences which say that these reef structures are around 600,000 years ago. The heritage area of Great Barrier Reef is divided into 70 bioregions, which include 30 reef bioregions.
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| Great Barrier Reef Coral |
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| Migaloo, the only known all-white humpback whale |
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| Parrot fish Great Barrier Reef Queensland, Australia |
The Great Barrier Reef supports life. Around 30 species of whales and dolphins have been recorded here. Large numbers of dugongs are also found here. Approximately 1500 species of fish live here including the clownfish, red bass, red-throat emperor and snapper trout. Six species; loggerhead sea turtle , green sea turtle ,hawksbill turtle, olive ridley, flatback turtle ,and leatherback sea turtle breed in the reef. 49 species of pipefish are recorded here. In total of 215 bird species which include, 32 shorebirds species and 22 seabird species nest here. 400 coral species inhabit in the Great Barrier Reef.
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| Sea turtle great barrier reef |
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| Dwarf minke whale. Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
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| The famous giant clam, the world’s largest species of mollusk |
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| Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
The health of this reef is affected by the climatic changes, overfishing, pollution, pesticides and many more threats. The climatic change is caused by ocean warming which increases the coral bleaching. It further causes detrimental harmful effects for the reefs. Pollution is another major threat to the reefs. The rivers pollute and around 90% pollution comes from runoff. The Great Barrier Reef is also used for farming purposes, which also damage the reef due to overgrazing, over utilization, chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers. Fertilizers increase the amount of phytoplankton, where as pesticides consist of mercury, arsenic and lead, which destroy the coral health.
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| Great Barrier Reef Coral Fish |
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| Snorkeling Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
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| Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
No wonder, The Great Barrier Reef is amongst the 7 wonders of the earth, but apart from this, a wider view of it can explain you the reason behind considering it in the seven wonders of the world. It is much larger than the Great Wall of China and only this living thing is visible even from the space. Hope this article gave you the basic information of one wonder of the world.
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