~If I could fly...~

Friday, September 5, 2008

Great Barrier Reef

^The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres

^ The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia

^The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space

^the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms.

^ This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps.

^The Great Barrier Reef supports a wide diversity of life, and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

Importance of Coral Reef

Corals provide protection and shelter for many different species of fishes. Without coral reefs, these fishes are left homeless with nowhere to live and no where to have their offsprings.

Not only do fishes increase the diversity of our world, but reef fishes as well as mollusks feed between 30 and 40 million people every year. They also make beautiful pets and the money made by catching and selling these animals provides many people with an income so that they can feed their families.

Very important in controlling how much carbon dioxide is in the ocean water. Without corals, the amount of carbon dioxide in the water would rise dramatically and that would affect all living things on Earth.

#Protect coasts from strong currents and waves by slowing down the water before it gets to the shore. That is why they are called barrier reefs. They provide a barrier between the ocean and the shore.

Information on Coral Polyps

Ahermatypic
Animals
Related to anemones and jellyfish
Must rely on capturing food with the tentacles of the individual coral polyps
In sunlight, ahermatypic coral polyps are normally retracted
Sometimes, the coral polyps are only extended during daylight, but this seems to only occur in areas of shade, such as on the bottom side of a large, round coral head, or in caverns, or in deeper waters
At night the polyps are extended, using their tentacles to catch free-swimming worms, plankton and other microscopic organisms
As a diver, shining a bright dive light directly on a polyp helps the coral feed, as hundreds of tiny insect-like microorganisms attracted to the light are captured by the sticky coral tentacles. The captured prey are passed to the polyp mouth and absorbed as food

Dead or Alive...

To see whether coral reef are dead or alive, read the notes given...

Dead...

WHITE in colour

Alive...

PURPLE in colour
RED in colour
BLACK in colour
YELLOW in colour

Our team passion on marine conservation is: stop the animals living in the sea becoming extinct
stop the pollution before all the corals disappear
save the coral reefs, save the fishes,
save the ocean, save human kind!

flew away
whee..