10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Great Barrier Reef

No trip to Australia is complete without snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef. You may know that it’s the largest living structure on the planet, but there’s a lot more than what meets the eye in this beautiful and fragile wonder of the world.

1. The Great Barrier Reef is made up of 2900 coral reefs, 1050 islands and coral cays.
2. Although being the largest living structure on Earth, the reef is actually around the size of Japan – spanning 350,000 square kilometres and stretching 2,300 kilometres along the Queensland coast.
3. The Great Barrier Reef plays home to over 1500 species of fish, 6 of the world’s 7 types of marine turtle, 3000 species of molluscs, 215 types of birds and 30 species of whales and dolphins and is also where you’ll find the majority of the world’s endangered dugong population.
4. Due to all the inhabitants of the Reef as we mentioned above, each November there is a mass spawning season due to the temperature of the water. This natural event is also colloquially referred to as ‘sex on the reef’.
5. Not forgetting the enormous amount of coral, the hard coral that acts as the backbone of the Great Barrier Reef only grows a minuscule 1.5 cm each year.
6. With the Great Barrier Reef needing a massive amount of protection from environmental and human factors, every visitor over the age of 4 years old must per a $6 reef tax when visiting – with the money raised from this going to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to help fund the continued conservation of the fragile eco-system.
7. The thin layer of the living coral that comprises the Great Barrier Reef is only 8000 years old, which is a baby in comparison to the 500,000-year-old dead coral and algae beneath it.
8. One of the most delicate ecosystems in existence, the worst natural predators of the Great Barrier Reef aside from humans are the beautiful, yet dangerous crown-of-thorns starfish. These starfish strip the reef of living coral, however, the reef can usually regenerate after an infestation of these spiky gluttons.
9. The Great Barrier Reef is so large it can be seen from outer space.
10. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, alongside sites such as the Grand Canyon and Mount Everest, The Great Barrier Reef was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981.

Explore the Great Barrier Reef and more on board with Ocean Safari.

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