Great Barrier Reef - Anita

• The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system. It is located in the Coral Sea, off the north eastern coast of Australia. The coral reef starts from the tip of Cape York Peninsula in the north and ended off the coast in Queensland. It is a replica of the 2,900 small, individual barrier reefs near Queensland. It is one of the Earth's largest natural structures made by many small organisms.
• The Great Barrier Reef stretches 1,600 miles,hola a little more than the distance from Boston to Miami. It covers an ocean floor of 133,000 square miles and includes the famous Lady Elliot and Murray Islands.
• The Great Barrier Reef consists of many essential plants and animals that help it survive. There are coral polyps, which are similar to squid and octopi. They feed on the algae in the coral reef and produce limestone which helps the reef grow and expand. Also, there are 30 species of whales, dolphins, porpoises, dugongs (manatee like animals), 1,500 species of fish, 5,000 species of mollusks, 17 species of sea snakes, 6 species of sea turtles, saltwater crocodiles, 215 species of bird and 15 species of seagrass.  
• Many tourists visit Australia to explore the reef. One activity that you can do there is take a ferry over to Magnetic Island and do snorkeling with the fish. Another activity is to seaplane over Heart Reef and see the turtles at Townsville's HQ Aquarium. You can speedboat to the Great Barrier Reef, skydive from the Whitsunday Islands, witness the turtles hatching on Heron Island and swim with the stingrays on Daydream Island.
• Every year 2 million tourists visit the Great Barrier Reef, making it a tourism hotspot. But there is much concern that such intense tourism is destroying the fragile reef. There is much pollution occurring, such as trash and oil spills found in the water. Another concern is that when tropical storms occur, runoff made from fertilizer and pesticide mix with the ocean water. To stop this terrible pollution, we need to put more effort into protecting and conserving our fragile and natural environment. 

Great Barrier Reef from Plane's View