View from space of the great barrier reef. Great Barrier Reef - a beauty seen from space

BBR is the world's largest coral reef located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia. One of the most impressive ecosystems on Earth is in dire condition. These are the main questions that threaten this magnificent natural wonder.

Great aerial view of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

As you probably already know, the Great Barrier Reef is in big trouble. About 50 percent of the reef's coral cover has already been lost, and the remaining 50 percent is projected to disappear by 2050 unless serious action is taken.

The clock is ticking, and unprecedented coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017 has only demonstrated how fragile and urgent the situation is today.

The Australian National and Queensland governments spend about $ 200 million annually to protect the reef. Although many say that this is not enough.

Why the reef is so important

It is not for nothing that the Great Barrier Reef is called “big”. The size of the reef is really huge: it can be seen from space, it stretches over 2,575 kilometers (this is the distance from Moscow to Paris), and covers 344,000 square kilometers.

But this massive area is not just a coral ocean. The Great Barrier Reef is made up of 3,000 separate reef systems, 600 tropical islands and about 300 coral reefs. This intricate labyrinth of habitats provides a home for a striking variety of marine plants and animals - from ancient sea turtles, reef fish and 134 species of sharks and rays, to 400 different hard and soft corals and a variety of algae.

The reef acts as a farm for the fishing industry that feeds hundreds of thousands of people. In addition, tourists flock to the reef to experience its incredible beauty and spend about $ 6 billion a year on it.

What are the threats to the reef?

Measures are being taken in a number of ways to protect the reef. Coping with coral withering away is costly and difficult as there are several major threats to reef health and all must be addressed.

What is coral bleaching?

In recent years, large-scale coral bleaching has occurred on the Great Barrier Reef due to high ocean temperatures.

Coral bleaching is the response of corals to environmental stress. Discoloration is a visible signal that something is going very wrong.

Bleaching does not directly kill corals, but it weakens them greatly, often leading to death later as they become more vulnerable to disease. Corals, as you remember from biology, are animals that live in symbiosis with some photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae.

However, these relationships can be destroyed due to environmental stress, namely high sea water temperatures, the risk of which is increasing due to anthropogenic climate change. This thermal stress can cause the coral to shed its zooxanthellae, as they produce corrosive substances in the heat. Corals without zooxanthellae become colorless (hence the term "discoloration").

Changing of the climate

1. Ocean acidification:
Since the 1700s, about 30% of the additional carbon dioxide that humans pumped into the atmosphere has been absorbed by the oceans. This changed the chemistry of the oceans, making them more acidic (a process known as ocean acidification), making it difficult for corals (and many other marine animals) to form their calcium-based skeletons.

2. Cyclones:
climate change is also contributing to the development of more powerful tropical cyclones, which can cause significant damage to shallow coral reefs. In addition, during cyclones or other violent storm events, more fresh water and sediment enters the ocean, which essentially suffocates the corals.

3. Rise of sea level and temperature:
rapid change coastline caused by a warming climate, means that plants and animals do not have time to adapt to changes in sea level and temperature.

Overfishing

Protected areas around the Great Barrier Reef tend to be richer in biodiversity.

When more fish are caught than the ecosystem can handle over time, it is overfishing. On the Great Barrier Reef, this is due to the sport and commercial fishing of some large, predatory fish such as coral trout and snapper. A less diverse reef is a less resilient reef and this affects coral health. Predatory fish are critical to maintaining a balanced ecosystem on the reef, but predators such as coral trout, snapper and emperor fish remain prime targets for both recreational and commercial fishing. In areas where commercial and sport fishing is permitted, the number of predatory fish was lower, as was the biodiversity. Protected, closed areas can have at least two or more times the amount of fish and therefore become attractive to poachers. Illegal fishing in restricted areas is on the rise.

Shipping

In April 2010, a China-registered dry-cargo coal transport Shen Neng 1 ran aground in shallow water in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Large ships filled with minerals mined in Australia (often sent to China) also threaten the reef with physical damage if they are in distress, as the 2010 disaster proved. A Chinese ship called Shen Neng 1 landed on a reef and dumped tons of toxic fuel oil onto fragile corals.

Coastal pollution

Probably most of the work to protect the reef has been done to reduce the runoff of toxic chemicals from agricultural areas off the coast of Queensland into the ocean.

Crown of thorns (starfish)

The crown of thorns starfish has become a serious threat to the ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef.

Over the past three decades, 40 percent of coral losses have been due to the proliferation of starfish, an indigenous coral species that is part of a balanced reef ecosystem. Unfortunately, the population of starfish has skyrocketed in recent decades. This may be due to excess nitrogen from agricultural runoff, which can increase the amount of plankton, the main food for starfish. Nitrogen runoff from farms in North Queensland leads to algal blooms in reef waters. This algae is the main food source for sea star larvae, producing population explosions that destroy corals.

To combat these starfish, a program has been implemented that will reward people for catching and killing excess starfish.

The future of the Great Barrier Reef

Coral reef surrounding green Island, near Cairns, North Queensland, Australia.

The future of the Great Barrier Reef remains unknown. Many organizations are working hard to minimize the wide range of hazards that threaten the reef, and the good news is that at least some of these efforts seem to be working, but action must be taken quickly to prevent this natural wonder from going extinct. ...

August 9th, 2016

The Great Barrier Reef is home to over 1,500 fish species, but this is just one of its many attractions for this amazing natural wonder. Known for its unsurpassed natural diversity, the Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world, and it is the only living creature on Earth that can be seen from space.

The Great Barrier Reef was recently named by News and World Report the best place in the world to visit. The ranking was based on a methodology that combined traveler opinions with expert analysis. These breathtaking photos will show why the Great Barrier Reef won first place.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system. It consists of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, and stretches over 2,240 kilometers.

The Great Barrier Reef runs along the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia, from the tip of the Cape York Peninsula all the way to the Bundaberg.

The Great Barrier Reef offers tourists an endless list of unique activities.

Of course, scuba diving is the most popular activity for tourists. Although the reef has suffered from the effects of climate change, it has unmatched ecological diversity, and much of it is hidden under the surface of the water.

For those who cannot swim, these magnificent wonders can be seen while sailing in glass bottom boats.

The Capricorn Coast and Queensland offer a variety of snorkeling tours.

Scenic helicopter tours offer a bird's eye view of the reef - the best way to fully appreciate just how vast the Great Barrier Reef really is.

Flights to balloons offer to see the same aerial views, but at a slower pace.

Day trips to islands in the Great Barrier Reef have brought together the best of both worlds: visitors can snorkel among the underwater wildlife, and see the beauty of tropical forests and sandy beaches.

For lovers of sailing activities here ideal conditions... Catamarans and other small boats can be rented. Large boats with their own crews can be rented for overnight cruises or multi-day cruises.

Rafting on the Tully River in North Queensland requires no experience and offers the opportunity to see World Heritage listed as rainforest.

No travel to Australia is complete without seeing some of the larger creatures. In Hartley, at the crocodile farm, guests can see crocodiles at close range, meet koalas.

The Rainforest Cable Car helps visitors discover Australia's rainforest.

Area with rich history and heritage, North Queensland also offers one-of-a-kind restaurants and shops.

Guests can enjoy the best Australian food and wine under the ancient rainforest trees.

Off the coast of North Queensland, the village of Kuranda is a great place to learn about the life of the region's indigenous community.

Kuranda is also world renowned for its markets. The shops are open every day of the year and offer a wide range of Aboriginal artifacts, handmade leather goods, jewelry and art.

The exploration of this gigantic barrier off the coast of Australia was initiated by the great navigator James Cook. His sailing ship "Endeavor" became the first ship to pass through the narrow strait between the Great Barrier Reef and the mainland coast. To walk more than a thousand kilometers without maps along the most difficult fairway, teeming with shoals and underwater rocks, was, of course, a miracle of nautical art. But even the famous Cook had to experience the treachery of the local waters. His "Endeavor" nevertheless stumbled upon a coral reef, damaged the hull, and only having thrown overboard all the guns and part of the cargo, the English captain managed to get off the cliff and reach the shore.

Over the past two centuries since then, hundreds of ships have suffered or sank on the reefs of the Australian coral barrier. Even in the 20th century, there were sea disasters here. AND geographical names in this part of the Coral Sea speak for themselves: Cape Beda, Tormenting Bay, Islands of Hope. It is not for nothing that the waters in the Great Barrier Reef area like a magnet attract numerous treasure seekers of sunken ships.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral ridge of more than 2,900 reefs and 900 islands of varying sizes, stretching over 2,600 km along the northeast coast of Australia and covering an area of ​​350,000 km². The exact size of the territory is almost impossible to establish, since the area of ​​the islands varies with the ebb and flow. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, geographically belongs to the state of Queensland. In 1979, a national marine park, received in 1981 the status World heritage UNESCO. The capital of the reef is the city of Cairns.

From the point of view of sciences such as biology, geology, this is one of the greatest wonders of nature. Only superlatives are justly attached to it; recognition of it natural heritage, a biosphere reserve and marine park reflects its global importance.

Some islands, about 100, are permanently vegetated; and 600 more high islands, surrounded by their own reefs. Its total area is larger than that of Great Britain.


Visible from space, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest structure formed by billions of tiny living organisms known as coral polyps.

Satellite image of the Great Barrier Reef

The age of some fragments of the reef reaches 18 million years, but most of them are much younger - 500 thousand years.

The reef, which itself is one of the largest geological formations, is, in fact, composed of living creatures or coral polyps, outwardly similar to anemones found near the coast. These tiny primitive organisms live in huge colonies, each of which has developed from an individual polyp that has undergone countless divisions.

The first coral reefs on the site of a giant coral barrier arose millions of years ago, but most of it is about five hundred thousand years old. During this time, coral polyps managed to erect buildings with an average height of one hundred and twenty meters. The construction of the reef continues today, although it is not easy to notice.

Coral formations

After all, the "houses" of polyps grow very slowly. It takes a year for a coral sprig to grow by only five centimeters.


The width of the Great Barrier Reef ranges from three hundred meters in the north to five kilometers in the southern part, and from the coast of the mainland it is removed at a distance from thirty kilometers (near the Cape York Peninsula) to two hundred and fifty (near the Tropic of Capricorn).

Describing the underwater kingdom of the Great Barrier Reef, stunning in beauty and diversity of life, people do not skimp on lush epithets and comparisons: "The world of the blue dream", "The greatest architectural structure of nature on the whole planet", "Amazing underwater forest", "The Eighth Wonder of the World", "Breathtaking underwater landscape", "The richest marine ecosystem in the world."

Indeed, in terms of the number of inhabitants and their strikingly picturesque appearance, the Great Barrier Reef is unmatched in the oceans. There are about four hundred species of corals alone. Some of them are similar to the human brain (they are called “brain”), others are like strange lace mushrooms, branches or curtains, and still others are like antlers. They can be hard and soft, white and colored, and once in their fabulous underwater kingdom, you begin to think that you have found yourself in some kind of fantastic garden among outlandish unearthly flowers: blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, red and even black ...

Huge tridanka

But corals make up only a tenth of the population of the underwater barrier. In addition to them, more than four thousand species of molluscs live on the reef, from snails to giant meter-long bivalve tridacnas, as well as sponges, anemones, crayfish, crabs, starfish, sea urchins and many algae.


But the main decoration of the waters of the Great Barrier Reef is, of course, fish. In terms of exotic coloring and the multitude of species and forms, neither a blooming mountain meadow nor the world of Disney fabulous films can be compared with the kingdom of coral fish. Only a fraction of this variety can be seen in marine aquariums in zoos. After all, the number of fish species in the bizarre coral forests of our planet reaches several thousand!



And the Great Barrier Reef is no exception. One and a half thousand representatives of the ichthyofauna graze in its underwater thickets washed by the warm waters of the Coral Sea. The names of many of them speak for themselves: butterfly fish, wrasse, clown fish, puffer, parrot fish, bleach, hedgehog fish, cardinal and even. fly fish. And besides them, sea bass and moray eels, stingrays and sharks, groupers and sea pikes and many other representatives of the fish kingdom are found here.









Large sea turtles come to the islands in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef at night to lay their eggs in holes dug on the beach. Then they cover the masonry with sand, tamp it and float back into the sea. The offspring born to the world have to independently dig their way to the surface and get to the native sea element along the wet sand of the coral beach.

Sea turtle

It is here that the turtles, whose shells have not yet hardened, and dangers lie in wait. Thousands of seabirds living on the islands are just waiting for this moment. Diving down, they grab the baby turtle one by one, and only a few manage to get to the saving water.

The islands of the Great Barrier Reef are home to as many as two hundred and forty species of birds. These are petrels, phaetons, frigates, boobies, terns, fulmars, white-bellied eagles and many others.

But mammals in the waters washing the reef are few. Mostly these are whales and dolphins.


And besides them, the dugong, a close relative of the sea cow, also grazes in the thickets of seaweed between the islands.

Beautiful underwater forests and meadows, sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow, seem invulnerable at first glance. Indeed, they are stone, and what can threaten a stone?

But it turns out that coral reefs are as vulnerable as any other offspring of wildlife. And the recent disaster that happened to the Australian reef once again reminded of this.

Starfish "crown of thorns"

In the 1960s and 1970s, the existence of the Great Barrier Reef was threatened by a sharp increase in the number of starfish. The danger came from one of the species of these echinoderms wearing beautiful name"crown of thorns". A huge, up to half a meter in diameter, starfish with numerous tentacles turned out to be a terrible enemy of coral polyps. Sucking to their buildings, the "crown of thorns" releases digestive juice into the holes of the coral "houses" and digests polyps, leaving a dead zone behind. In a year, one star can destroy life on six square meters of the reef.

The excessive increase in the number of these previously rather rare eaters of polyps, as it turned out, was associated with the disappearance in many places of the Great Barrier Reef of their natural enemies - predatory snails-newts. Because of the large beautiful shells, souvenir hunters collected tons of newts for sale to tourists.

As a result, freed from the natural limiter of their numbers, starfish began to multiply intensively, and entire sections of the coral barrier turned into a lifeless sea desert. Now hunting for snails-newts is prohibited, scuba divers armed with syringes with poison are fighting with the "crown of thorns", and little by little the natural balance on the reef is restored. But in many destroyed areas of the Great Barrier Reef, life will return only in twenty or thirty years.

Fish Napoleon

Warm waters, deserted beaches, an abundance of small secluded islets and the opportunity to spend long hours in an exceptionally picturesque underwater kingdom attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists to this amazing corner of the Earth.


Some of them are limited to excursions on ships and boats in order to devote the rest of the time to acquaintance with the equally unique animal world of the Australian coast.

But more determined lovers of marine fauna settle on the islands for two to three weeks, tirelessly watching and filming the coral worlds with a video camera. Although the Australians have established a marine reserve here, only a few particularly vulnerable areas of the Great Barrier Reef are under strict protection.

And according to the reviews of travelers who have traveled around the planet and scuba diving off the coast of the Maldives and Seychelles, Hawaii and the Galapagos archipelago, who have seen the coral thickets of the Caribbean and Red Sea, French Polynesia and the Palau Islands, the underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef is unmatched in scale and diversity.

No wonder thousands of tourists fly to distant Australia and sail across half the world to enjoy the incomparable charm blue lagoons and the straits, which harbor innumerable living treasures of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef stretches from south to north, originating in the Tropic of Capricorn, located between the cities of Bundaberg and Gladstone, and ending in the Torres Strait, which separates Australia from New Guinea. In the northern part, near Cape Melville, the coral complex is located only 32-50 km from the coast, and from south side it breaks up into small groups of reef formations, in some places moving away from the coastline by 300 km. It is the last mentioned places that attract a huge number of diving fans.

The Great Barrier Reef is so huge that it can be seen from space. This fact is very impressive when you consider the size of the creatures that built the largest object ever created by living organisms. The system is made up of billions of small animals, usually no larger than a grain of rice - coral polyps. Their appearance is like a tiny upside-down jellyfish sitting in a stone bowl. They live together in colonies. Polyps cannot build reefs on their own; for this, the wise mother nature sent them helpers. Such in this case are millions of microscopic algae trapped in the tentacles of animals. They convert sunlight into energetic food for corals. This symbiosis allows them to convert minerals into calcium carbonate and build their rocky skeletons. So each colony develops and grows, enriching the area with whole limestone massifs. However, their world is very defenseless and fragile: even a slight increase in temperature - by one degree - can provoke the death of coral polyps.

Coral reefs occupy less than 1% of the world's oceans, but they are home to a quarter of all marine life known to science, and the Great Barrier Reef is their largest shelter. It is for this reason that in 1981 UNESCO included it in the list of World Heritage Sites, and CNN awarded the title of one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The history of the reef is rooted in ancient times. Hot Australia was not always tropical climatic zone: for many millennia it was an integral part of Antarctica, and most of its history coastal waters were too cold for coral to function. The move to the tropics took place about 65 million years ago, coinciding with a period of sea level rise, which created favorable conditions for the growth of coral polyps in the northeastern part of its coast.

The reef originated about 25 million years ago due to the movement of the Australian lithospheric plate. The coast of the area now called the state of Queensland was flooded with tropical waters, as a result of which the coral larvae, brought by warm ocean currents, were in these places and fixed on the ground. Over time, the colonies began to grow and cover the seabed, over the millennia creating the Great Barrier Reef as it can be seen today. So with the rise in the level of the World Ocean, an intensive growth of new layers took place. The history of the reef layers under the surface visible to the observer, which is constantly renewed, has about 10 thousand years. The youngest areas, located on the peaks of the older ones, have been formed over the past 200 years and are located at a depth of 15-20 meters.

For many hundreds of years, the Great Barrier Reef has attracted the attention of mankind: from ancient times to the present day, it is used by the inhabitants of the Torres Islands and Australian aborigines as an important component of the culture of local populations. However, Western civilization did not know about the existence of this natural monument for a long time.

Europeans learned about the grandiose living structure thanks to the famous navigator James Cook, who saw and realized the scale of this object in 1770. He literally stumbled upon a reef: one evening Cook heard the scraping of the bottom of the ship "Endeavor" against an underwater rock, as a result of which the ship received significant damage. Fortunately, the tide helped the situation end safely - the ship was saved, and the expedition continued.

The main part of the reef is made up of over 2,900 individual reefs, ranging in size from 0.01 km² to 100 km². Most of them are hidden under the water surface, and in order to see the coral "sculptures" in more detail, you will have to use diving equipment and dive into the warm Pacific waters. You can see the peaks of the coral formations cutting through the water surface only during low tide. A fairly shallow lagoon stretches between the coast and the Great Barrier Reef, the depth of which rarely exceeds 100 m.

The world's largest ecosystem is famous not only for a huge variety of coral reefs, but also for its truly rich underwater world - there is hardly a place in the world that can compete with the Australian giant in the abundance of marine life. Thousands of different creatures have found their home in this maritime metropolis. Many of them are exquisitely beautiful, some seem to have stepped out of the pages of a science fiction magazine, and some are capable of bringing death in the blink of an eye.

The variety of life forms in the Great Barrier Reef more long time will not give researchers peace of mind, because to study all the underwater wealth of its flora and fauna is not such an easy task. About 400 species of corals have found their home in its vastness, striking with an abundance of forms and species. Like a fabulous underwater garden, the entire territory of the Great Barrier Reef is replete with bright colors of coral reefs of all colors of the rainbow. The most common colors are various shades of red, yellow, sometimes white, orange, brown, and occasionally even lilac-purple is found. Soft representatives of corals, which instead of a limestone skeleton in their tissues have hard crystalline structures called sclerites, cover the "bodies" of their rocky congeners.

A giant complex of coral reefs sheltered in its waters 1,500 species of marine fish, of which approximately 500 species belong to the true reef, the most adapted to life in these conditions. Also, 30 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises, about 125 species of sharks and rays, 6 species of turtles, 14 species of sea snakes, about 5,000 species of molluscs and 1,300 species of crustaceans have found their refuge here. Among the fish living here is their largest representative - the whale shark. In addition, the reef has sheltered over 200 species of birds.

Australia's most famous natural attraction annually receives about two million visitors on its territory, which brings this region more than $ 3 billion in profit per year. In addition to the beneficial effect on the country's economy, this also entails negative consequences that will inevitably destroy the coral complex. The government of the country has set a number of restrictions aimed at protecting the ecosystem, but human-caused harm cannot be completely prevented. In addition, nature itself creates many dangers. These include the so-called fading, which very quickly leads to the death of corals, and in huge quantities. This phenomenon is caused by global warming, which affects the temperature of the water. Another enemy of the delicate balance of coral reefs is tropical hurricanes. But the status of the main enemy is the crown of thorns starfish, the size of which can reach up to 50 cm. These echinoderm predators feed exclusively on coral polyps. The most destructive period of devastation due to the vital activity of these pests fell on the 80s of the last century.

Since 1985, the reef has lost more than half of the coral polyps that make up its structure, according to research conducted by the US National Academy of Sciences in October 2012.

The main resort in the north of Australia, its most exotic corner and, as the people say, the main “gateway” of the Great Barrier Reef - the city of Cairns provides its guests with the opportunity to spend their holidays as richly as possible in the arms of one of the wonders of the world. This area is famous for the fact that the coral islands are extremely close to the coast, and in just 1.5-2 hours of fast boat walking you can reach famous diving spots. In addition, it is convenient to make trips from here to nearby national parks, reserves, ancient villages and other equally colorful places.

The most fashionable resort islands are Hyman and Bedarra. Diving enthusiasts will love the islands Magnetic, Heron and Lizard. And as for the resorts that combine diving, entertainment, excursions and high-class recreation, these are the Hamilton, Keppel, Fraser, Dunk and Brampton Islands.

Many documentaries have been filmed about this unique place on the planet, the most famous of them being “BBC. Walking underwater. The Great Barrier Reef ”(1991) and the TV series, created by the same Air Force in 2012,“ The Great Barrier Reef ”. The films will undoubtedly reveal the general picture of the area, but in order to feel the full grandeur of this miracle of nature, you need to see it with your own eyes.

Parrot fish:

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the entire world. It consists of 2,900 separate reefs and 900 islands, stretching for about 2.5 thousand km over an area of ​​about 345 thousand square meters. km.

Its area is approximately equal to that of Germany. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, near the northeastern border of the mainland.

It is so huge that it can be seen even from space - it is the world's largest formation created by living organisms.

Most of the reefs are hidden under water and are visible only at low tide. Some reefs eventually turned into coral islands, which amaze with their unique landscape and richness of fauna.

In 1979, UNESCO included the Great Barrier Reef, an area of ​​almost 5 million hectares, on the World Heritage List.

How the Great Barrier Reef was formed.

8,000 years ago, there was a significant rise in the level of the World Ocean and all conditions were created for the growth of the Great Barrier Reef to begin off the coast of Australia. But there is no officially confirmed age of the reef.

The Great Barrier Reef consists of the skeletons of hard coral species: antlers, brain corals and mushroom corals. They can only grow in warm water. The water temperature at which corals can grow should not fall below + 18 degrees. The optimum water temperature for coral reproduction is + 25 degrees.
Affects coral life and water salinity. It ends at the Tropic of Capricorn, after which the water becomes colder; it did not spread beyond the shores of New Guinea due to the fact that the salinity of water near New Guinea is lower, since in that area it flows into the ocean big river Fly and several other small rivers.

Fauna of the Great Barrier Reef.

Corals make up only 10% of the living creatures of the underwater National park Great Barrier Reef. A lot of sponges, anemones, crayfish, crabs, starfish live here, sea ​​urchins... But the main decoration of the Great Barrier Reef is, of course, fish.

There are about 1,500 species of marine fish here. However, of these, about 500 species can be considered truly reef fish, which are massively found here, and which are most adapted to life in the water area of ​​the Great Barrier Reef.

And the main enemy of the barrier reef corals is the starfish. In a year, one such star can completely destroy all life on 6 square meters. m.

The largest fish on Earth, the whale shark, also lives in the Great Barrier Reef.

Large sea turtles come to the islands of the Great Barrier Reef at night. The South Reef Islands serve as a breeding ground for sea turtles, of which six species are found in the waters of the reef.