The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef: This reef system is a World Heritage Site.

"The Great Barrier Reef is a site of remarkable variety and beauty on the north-east coast of Australia. It contains the world’s largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc. It also holds great scientific interest as the habitat of species such as the dugong (‘sea cow’) and the large green turtle, which are threatened with extinction." http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154/

Coral is actually an animal, similar to a sea anemone, that lives in colonies and builds "skeletons" like little apartment buildings for the coral polyps to live in. Special types of algae live inside the bodies of the coral. The algae produces food for the coral using photosynthesis and the coral provides protection for the algae. A coral reef is where lots of coral live together and provide valuable habitat for many other sea creatures.

The reef is endangered due to pollution and "coral bleaching." Pollution can be caused by plastics, chemicals and run off from the shore. The runoff is worse where trees are cut down so their roots do not keep the soil in place, where fertilizers are used which cause algae blooms in the water, and near mines that dump sediment and toxins into the ocean.

Coral bleaching occurs when ocean temperatures get too high (Global warming) and there is too much carbon dioxide. The algae that lives in the coral starts producing too much oxygen which makes it toxic to the coral. The coral then gets rid of the algae and loses its color because the algae is actually what made the coral colorful in the first place. The problem is that the algae actually provides most of the food that the coral eats so the coral can die from starvation.

On the map below, zoom in and follow the light blue patches up the coast of Australia, all of those are part of the Great Barrier Reef.

Ms. Muller snorkeled and/or scuba dove on the reef around Fitzroy Island (where the sea turtle rehabilitation center is located), Michaelmus Cay and Hastings Reef.