The Great Barrier Reef

 The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia's most remarkable natural gifts which is blessed with the breathtaking beauty of the world's largest coral reef. It covers an area of 133,000 square miles (344,400 sq km). This reef comprises of over 3000 individual reef systems with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc. It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s so large that you can see it from outer space. The reef is a very popular destination for scuba divers and other tourists. Since it is a fragile habitat, tourism of the Great Barrier Reef is highly managed. All ships, aircraft and others that want to access the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park need to have a permit.
              However the Great barrier's Reef health is in danger due to many factors like pollution, climate change, rising sea temperature, fishing,etc. 

 
Facts about the Great Barrier Reef:

• covers 344,400 km² in area.
• includes the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem.
• includes some 3000 coral reefs, 600 continental islands, 300 coral cays and about 150 inshore mangrove islands.
• extends south from the northern tip of Queensland in north-eastern Australia to just north of Bundaberg.
• is between 60 and 250 kilometers in width.
• has an average depth of 35 meters in its inshore waters, while on outer reefs, continental slopes extend down to depths of more than 2000 meters.
• was created in 1975 through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act.
• extends into the airspace above and into the earth beneath the seabed.