Factually, it is the world's largest reef system with over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands spread over an area of 344,400 square kilometres.
The Great Barrier Reef, from Google Earth.
The main types of coral inhabiting the reef are: branching corals (including finger, staghorn, knobby and needle corals), plates/table corals, vase corals, sheet corals, mushroom corals, basket corals, slipper corals, cabbage corals and boulder corals (including brain, honeycomb, golfball and lunar corals).
The main types of fish inhabiting the reef are: damselfish (small, stocky), wrasse (elongated cigar shaped body), butterflyfish (disc shaped body with stripe across eye), rabbitfish (has venomous spines), parrotfish (has a parrot-like beak), triggerfish (torpedo shaped body with trigger on head), surgeonfish (disc shaped body with a spine), angelfish (disc shaped body with no stripe across eye) and anemonefish (live in anemones).
We left for the Great Barrier Reef on a boat from Cairns harbour in August 2011, our boat was called 'Ocean Spirit', we took many pictures with an underwater camera on the reef we visited, they were taken mostly while snorkelling, but some were taken on our first introductory SCUBA dive (an amazing experience!) I have narrowed them down to about 25 somehow! Some amazing pictures taken by professionals can be found online, but there's nothing like taking your own photos.
Team Convent travelling out the the reef, very warm water!
Team Convent in our snorkelling gear out on the reef.
Part of Team Convent in SCUBA gear :D
Me in my snorkel on the reef.
A giant clam with various types of coral, including: honeycomb, knobby and finger corals.
Kaela found nemo! (2 anemone fish).
Various types of coral, amazing colours!
Inside a giant clam, yes we got to touch it! :D
A chilled out wrasse and damselfishes.
A big butterfly fish!
A very colourful wrasse!
Another big butterfly fish next to various finger corals.
Branching coral with lots of fish (you can swim over these when SCUBA diving and the fish will swim up to your face).
A parrotfish.
Another type of anemonefish similar to the Fiji anemonefish.
Me on Ocean Spirit getting blown away.
Cabbage/lettuce coral.
Butterflyfish.
Purple finger coral.
Butterfly fish swimming over cabbage coral.
Spectacular coral.
Ocean Spirit boat!
Stingray swimming along.
Spot the dolphin.
A long swim back!
The Great Barrier Reef is a beautiful part of the Earth, but unfortunately it is being threatened by global warming and thus ocean acidification.
This website explains the issue of ocean acidification in detail:
The following article by Hoegh-Guldberg et al. (2007) is a useful, in-detail read:
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