Crumbling Coral II

You can't talk about coral (see previous post) and not talk about the Great Barrier Reef - the largest reef and island system in the world encompassing 133,000 square miles.  Fittingly enough it is located (where else?) in the Coral Sea off Queensland, Australia, is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is a World Heritage site.

Source:  Wikipedia

The reef system is actually not one reef but made up of over 2500 reefs containing over 400 species of coral.

 Flynn Reef  Source:  Wikipedia

It is inhabited at various times of the year (some species only come to breed) by 30 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises, including the humpback whale...

Source:  Wikipedia

dugongs (similar to manatees)...

Source:  Wikipedia

over 1,500 species of fish, including coral trout...

Source:  Wikipedia

and bluestripe snapper..

Source:  Wikipedia

seventeen species of sea snakes, such as olive sea snakes..

Source:  Wikipedia

six species of sea turtles, including endangered green sea turtles...

Source:  Wikipedia

fifteen species of seagrass...

Source:  Wikipedia

over 120 species of stingrays, sharks, skates and chimeras, including the thorntail stingray...

Source:  Wikipedia

almost 5,000 species of mollusc including the textile cone snail...

Source:  Wikipedia

forty-nine species of pipefish, like the pygmy pipefish...

Source:  Wikipedia

and nine species of seahorses, including the tiger snout seahorse which is endemic to Australia.

Source:  Wikipedia

Along with the sea creatures there over 200 species of birds that are connected with the reef and accompanying islands such as the white-bellied sea eagle.

Source:  Wikipedia

Coral reefs are truly a keystone species for an entire ecosystem.  And the Great Barrier Reef is just as susceptible to environmental threats and climate change as coral the world over.  To see more of the GBR, click here.  For ways to help protect the GBR, click here.