Information About The Great Barrier Reef

Exploring Oceans: Great Barrier Reef

The largest living structure on earth this Great Reef spans more than 1200 miles (2000 km) of islands and submerged reefs.

Placed along the reefs edge are a wonderful range of scattered tropical Islands. Some of these are isolated and others have popular resorts that are visited by tourists and locals alike year in year out.

This area that surrounds the coral reef is very well known for its breathtaking beauty, colorful corals, long clean white beaches and its amazing Eco systems above and below the ocean.

Also, we can't forget the fun ocean activities that can be purchased at tour centers or within resorts where you choose to stay.

Below we have provided a list of information about the Great Barrier Reef. Actually our whole website is designed to do just that! So, if you can’t find the relative information you are searching for please browse through the website.

The Best Time to Visit the Great Barrier Reef

This coastal region is a tourist destination all year round as the climate in north east Queensland very rarely gets cold. The water is also warm all year round as it’s nested in the tropical Coral Sea.

However there is a time that I would recommend and that is between the months of July and August.

This basically is the middle of the Australian winter and there is virtually no chance of any monsoonal activities or bad weather.

The Australian winter is also very safe for swimming at this time as there are no dangerous Box Jelly fish present.

Coral Information About The Great Barrier Reef

This coral reef is made up of billions of jelly like creatures called Polyps that mass together to create giant colonies that take thousands of years to form.

The outer shell is the coral which protects the Polyps, as these are soft bodied creatures.

There are literally hundreds of species of Polyp and all of them grow at different rates and also come in many different wonderful shapes and sizes.

The coral mostly feeds on the local Plankton and it is actually the Polyps that provide the wonderful colors to the coral, as a coral shell is clear white.

Photo: Bommie Cod hiding within the coral!

Creatures That Inhabit the Reef

There are six species of Turtle that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef and all of these start out of their nests here on the tropical beaches and travel half way around the world in great ocean currents, finally to return here as adults.

The Turtles that inhabit the area are the Green sea turtle, Hawksbill turtle, Logger head sea turtle and the Flat back turtle.

The Green sea turtle here is really quite unique as there are two species, one that inhabits the southern part of the reef and another that resides in the northern reaches.

Other wonderful creature that call this beautiful area their home are dolphins, porpoises, whales, dugongs and an abundance amount of fish species.

It’s hard to believe, but recent tests have shown that there are over thirty species of whale that live and visit the Great Barrier Reef. There are also 125 shark species, 215 bird species, and 17 varieties of sea snake, 1500 fish species and over 400 varieties of coral. Yes, this place truly is remarkable!

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Information about the Great Barrier Reef

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