| Great Barrier Reef |
Article Index for Great Barrier |
Articles about Great Barrier Reef |
Website Links For Great Barrier |
Information AboutGreat Barrier Reef |
|
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef. The reef is located in the Coral Sea , off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia . It stretches over 2000 kilometres in length and can be seen from space. The Great Barrier Reef is a large system of about 900 islands and over 3000 coral reefs, which mostly lie some distance from the mainland coastline. Due to its vast Biodiversity , warm clear waters and its accessibility from the floating guest facilities called ' Live Aboard s', the reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially Scuba Divers . Many cities along the Queensland coast offer boat trips to the reef on a daily basis. Several continental islands have been turned into Resort s. The Great Barrier Reef is sometimes referred to as the single Largest Organism in the world. In reality it is made up of many millions of tiny organisms, as are all Coral formations. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park . AGE The Great Barrier Reef first became known to Europeans when the explorer Captain James Cook ran aground there, on June 11 , 1770 . The Great Barrier Reef however was known to Indigenous Australians whose occupation of the Australian continent is thought to extend back 40,000 to 60,000 years or more. [http://www.reefed.edu.au/explorer/traditional_owners/index.html . According to the known as Boulder Coral , which is only about 1,000 years old (it grows at about 1 centimetre/year). The research outcomes funded by the CRC Reef Research Centre {Link without Title} estimates the present reef structure at 6,000 to 8,000 years old, formed upon coral dating back half a billion years. Reefs fluctuate (grow and recede) as the sea level changes. An ancient barrier reef similar to the Great Barrier Reef can be found in The Kimberleys . History The reef has, over the years, brought many ships to grief. James Cook 's HM Bark ''Endeavour'' hit the reef in 1770 and sustained considerable damage. It was finally saved after lightening the ship as much as possible and re-floating it during an incoming tide. One of the most famous wrecks is that of the HMS ''Pandora'' , which sank on August 29 , 1791 killing 35. The Queensland Museum has been leading archaeological digs to the ''Pandora'' since 1983. {Link without Title} ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS Runoff and coastal development The coastline of north eastern Australia has no major rivers, except during tropical flood events caused by cyclones (hurricanes), several major urban centres with Cairns and Townsville are the largest of these coastal cities with populations of approximately 150,000 each [http://www.oesr.qld.gov.au/ . Unlike most reef environments the Great Barrier Reef is the only one where the catchment area is home to industrialised urban areas and where extensive areas of coastal lands and rangelands have been used for agricultural and pastoral purposes. Global warming and coral bleaching Some people believe that the most significant threat to the status of the Great Barrier Reef and of the planet's other tropical reef Ecosystem s is Global Warming . Many of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef are currently living at the upper edge of their temperature tolerance, as demonstrated in the Coral Bleaching events of the summers of 1998 and 2002 . As was seen at those times, under the stress of waters that remain too warm for too long, corals expel their Photosynthesising Zooxanthella e and turn colourless, revealing their white Calcium Carbonate skeletons, and if the water does not cool within about a month the coral will unfortunately die. Australia has just experienced its warmest year on record and abnormally high sea temperatures during summer ( 2006 ) have caused massive coral bleaching in the Keppel Island group. Global warming has triggered the collapse of reef ecosystems throughout the tropics. Increased global temperatures bring more violent Tropical Storm s, but reef systems are naturally resilient and recover from storm battering. While some believe that an upward trend in temperature will cause much more coral bleaching, others point to data that demonstrates that the global temperature has never changed by more than a degree for a very long time. ]] Crown-of-Thorns starfish , a natural predator of the Crown-of-Thorns starfish, is often overfished as its shell is prized by collectors. Fishing The fishing industry in the GBR is worth $104 million (Australian) annually {Link without Title} . It employs approximately 2000 people, and fishing in the Reef is pursued commercially, for recreation, and as a traditional means for feeding one's family. Effects of Fishing Disruption to food chains is caused by unsustainable overfishing of key species. The Queensland government announced a Coral Finfish Management Plan (in practice 2003) aimed at reducing the annual commercial catch to 1996 levels and increasing the minimum legal size. Up until mid-2004, only 4.6% of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area was protected from fishing. (It is now one third.) The main impacts from fishing are
Shipping and Oil Shipping accidents are a real concern, as commercial shipping routes pass through the Great Barrier Reef. There have been two groundings of large container vessels over the past few years from negligence. Ships also have been known to discharge waste and foreign species in their Ballast Water and the antifouling paint on the hulls is toxic. Also, it is suspected that the Reef is the cap to an oil trap, as it is calcium carbonate. Before it was World Heritage listed, there was some speculation about drilling for oil and gas there. Although there is no oil drilling on the reef, oil spills are still a frequent occurrence. MANAGING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF There are approximately two million visitors to the Great Barrier Reef each year. {Link without Title} Although most of these visits are managed in partnership with the marine tourism industry, there are some very popular areas near shore (such as Green Island ) that have suffered damage due to overfishing and land based run off. Any impacts from tourist activity merely exacerbate the more pronounced effects of land based run-off and overfishing. The Australian Government manages the reef, through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority {Link without Title} and in partnership with the state of Queensland, to ensure that it is widely understood and used in a sustainable manner. A combination of zoning, management plans, permits, education and incentives (such as eco-tourism certification) are used in the effort to conserve the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981 . On July 1 , 2004 the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park became the largest protected sea area in the world when the Australian Government increased the areas protected from extractive activities (such as Fishing ) from 4.6% to 33.3% of the park. {Link without Title} EXTERNAL LINKS
|