KIDS – Interesting Information – 183

Great Barrier Reef

ONE of the natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef on earth. It lies in the Coral Sea, off the coast of northeastern Australia and extends 2 000km from north to south, with a total area of 350 000km2. The sea life on and around the Great Barrier Reef, besides some 400 species of hard corals includes other forms of animals without backbones such as sponges, anemones, worms, snails, lobsters, crayfish, prawns, jellyfish, and giant clams.

Vertebrates, or animals with backbones, have also made the reef their home. These include some 215 species of birds and more than 1 500 species of fish (many with brilliant colours and unusual shapes). Plant life is not as varied as animal life, but there are some 500 species of seaweeds, and some varieties of mangrove grow upon the northern cays. Red algae form the purplish red rim of the reef. Green algae flourish almost everywhere. The English explorer Captain James Cook first focused the attention of the Western world on the reef after his ship, the Endeavour, ran aground on it in 1 770. The United Nations named the reef a World Heritage Site in 1981.