Great Barrier Reef
Why should you visit The Great Barrier Reef?
The Great Barrier Reef consists of a diverse variety of marine life and landforms and is one of Australia’s most unique natural wonders. It is made up of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands and hundreds and thousands of different types of plants, birds and marine life. The Great Barrier Reef consists of many different land forms such as coral reefs as well as mangroves estuaries, sandy and coral cays, continental islands, sea grass beds, algae and sponge gardens, sandy and muddy sea beds and continental slopes and deep ocean troughs. You can go to the Great Barrier Reef to experience and admired the colourful coral reefs as well as all the marine life while scuba diving and snorkelling. Another reason why you should visit the Great Barrier Reef is because of its warm seas, refreshing sea breeze, the sunshine and the warm climate all year round. As a visitor of the Great Barrier Reef you can enjoy helicopter tours, sailing, abseiling, cruise ship tours and swimming with dolphins and all the other marine animals that live there.
The Great Barrier Reef consists of a diverse variety of marine life and landforms and is one of Australia’s most unique natural wonders. It is made up of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands and hundreds and thousands of different types of plants, birds and marine life. The Great Barrier Reef consists of many different land forms such as coral reefs as well as mangroves estuaries, sandy and coral cays, continental islands, sea grass beds, algae and sponge gardens, sandy and muddy sea beds and continental slopes and deep ocean troughs. You can go to the Great Barrier Reef to experience and admired the colourful coral reefs as well as all the marine life while scuba diving and snorkelling. Another reason why you should visit the Great Barrier Reef is because of its warm seas, refreshing sea breeze, the sunshine and the warm climate all year round. As a visitor of the Great Barrier Reef you can enjoy helicopter tours, sailing, abseiling, cruise ship tours and swimming with dolphins and all the other marine animals that live there.
When is the best time to visit?
The best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef depends on which part you of the reef you go to as the reef stretches for over 2500km down the coast of Queensland but most of the coast is in tropical regions. The northern part of the reef is in a tropical climate with hot and wet summers with rain and humidity whereas the southern part of the reef is sub-tropical with milder summers and less humidity. Overall, the reef has two distinct seasons, a winter period of warm temperatures and little rainfall which begins in May and ends in October and a summer period of warmer temperatures but more rainfall which begins in November and ends in April. The best time to go swimming is between April and October and the water temperatures range from 21-29 degrees Celsius.
The best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef depends on which part you of the reef you go to as the reef stretches for over 2500km down the coast of Queensland but most of the coast is in tropical regions. The northern part of the reef is in a tropical climate with hot and wet summers with rain and humidity whereas the southern part of the reef is sub-tropical with milder summers and less humidity. Overall, the reef has two distinct seasons, a winter period of warm temperatures and little rainfall which begins in May and ends in October and a summer period of warmer temperatures but more rainfall which begins in November and ends in April. The best time to go swimming is between April and October and the water temperatures range from 21-29 degrees Celsius.
What types of flora and fauna will you see at the Great Barrier Reef?
The Great Barrier Reef is home to more than 1,500 species of fish, 411 types of hard coral and one third of the world’s soft coral, 134 species of sharks and rays, six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles and more than 30 species of marine mammals such as the dugong. The Great Barrier Reef is enormously diverse and to add it there is also approximately 3,000 different sponges, worms, crustaceans, star fish and sea urchins as well as 215 bird species of which 22 of them are sea birds. Protecting the reef has become very important as we need to continue to make sure our coastal communities are well looked after as this provides significant benefits to Australia’s economy as well as the reef itself in the form of conservation and marine parks. So we must make sure that we are keeping our Great Barrier Reef clean and pollution free so it can thrive on for future generations.
Some interesting facts about the Great Barrier Reef:
The Great Barrier Reef is home to more than 1,500 species of fish, 411 types of hard coral and one third of the world’s soft coral, 134 species of sharks and rays, six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles and more than 30 species of marine mammals such as the dugong. The Great Barrier Reef is enormously diverse and to add it there is also approximately 3,000 different sponges, worms, crustaceans, star fish and sea urchins as well as 215 bird species of which 22 of them are sea birds. Protecting the reef has become very important as we need to continue to make sure our coastal communities are well looked after as this provides significant benefits to Australia’s economy as well as the reef itself in the form of conservation and marine parks. So we must make sure that we are keeping our Great Barrier Reef clean and pollution free so it can thrive on for future generations.
Some interesting facts about the Great Barrier Reef:
- The Great Barrier is visible from outer space
- It is the world’s largest living organism and is a place of extraordinary natural beauty and biodiversity.
- In kilometers squared, the Great Barrier Reef is larger than Switzerland, Holland and the United Kingdom also larger than Tasmania and Victoria put together and the Great Wall of China
- The Great Barrier Reef is listed as a World Heritage Site which covers approximately an area of 348,000 km2.
- The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the worl
Bibliography:
Image of Map - Sourced from: https://maps.google.com.au/
Image in the backgroud - sourced from: http://whitsundays.homestead.com/GreatBarrierReefFlight.html
Panorama Image - sourced from: http://beachthursday.com/bondi-beach-australia/
Last image - sourced from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/ australia/9760762/Sea-floor-next-to-Australias-Great-Barrier-Reef-close-to-collapse.html
Sun icon Image - sourced from: http://www.clipartpal.com/clipart_pd/weather/sun3.html
Under the sea image -sourced from: http://www.acfonline.org.au/about-us/our-success-stories/conserving-great-barrier
People underwater image -sourced from: http://totalsolareclipses.com/great-barrier-reef