Also known as the Great Barrier Reef, the reef is one of Queensland’s—and indeed the entire country’s—most iconic landmarks. Are you planning to travel to Australia ? LEC has the lowdown on what you need to know about it.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site
The world’s largest coral reef system lies off the northeast coast of Australia. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, it offers, according to the organization, “a spectacle of extraordinary variety and beauty and of great scientific interest” across approximately:
- 400 species of coral
- 1,500 species of fish
- 4,000 species of mollusks
A marvel that came into being half a million years ago
The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 2,000 km, and nearly its entire ecosystem covers an area of 348,000 km², which is roughly the size of Germany or the Republic of the Congo. It does not form a continuous wall, but consists of a collection of barrier reefs, fringing reefs, and atolls. A tropical paradise, the Great Barrier Reef is estimated to be about 500,000 years old. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of Nature—a list popularized by CNN—alongside the Grand Canyon, Mount Everest, and Victoria Falls.
What exactly is coral?
Along with sea anemones, to which they are closely related, corals were among the first animals to inhabit the seas. Of the hundreds of species with diverse forms that exist today, many build reefs. Corals are simple organisms consisting of a calcareous skeleton, or polyps, on which the living part, or polyp, grows. These small, fragile animals have evolved very little and are now threatened in many parts of the world.