Located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in
northeast Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage eco holiday destination,
with a range of environmental tourism operators available providing educational and interpretive information on the reef.
The Great Barrier Reef is made up of many millions of tiny
organisms, known as coral polyps. Corals belong to the group of animals (Cnidarians) that also include anemones, jellyfish, bluebottles and hydroids and the coral polyp is a small tube-like structure, with a central space opening via a mouth. Most corals also contain zooxanthellae (pronounced zo-zan-thel-y), a single-celled algae that live inside the coral animal and help to supply it with food.
The coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef are an accumulation of dead corals
and other organisms with a limestone skeleton, cemented together by some
algal species and by physical processes. Selected as a World Heritage Site
in 1981, the Great Barrier Reef can be seen from space.
The Great Barrier Reef supports a wide diversity of life. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Plants and animals that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef include:
30 species
of whales, dolphins and porpoises that live in, or visit Great Barrier Reef
waters; some of the largest populations of dugongs in the world live on
the Great Barrier Reef; over 200 species of birds (including 40 species of
seabirds); 6 breeding species of sea turtles; 14 species of sea snakes;
1500 species of fish; 5,000 species of molluscs; 400 species of coral
500 species of seaweed or marine algae; and 15 species of seagrass.
