On this website, you will learn about the Great Barrier Reef. Before we learn about the reef, we will learn about Australia.
Australia is one of the largest countries in the world. It is the only country to occupy a whole continent. It covers about 3,000,000 miles of land with a population of 17,782,000 people. I would show you a map of Australia but I don't have a scanner. Oh well. . .
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Great Barrier Reef- the longest coral reef in the world that stretches along the coast of Queenland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1791. He was sailing in a small boat and it took him 36 days to get from one side of the reef to the other. Cook also discovered 150 types of coral (some he named after himself) and later more were discovered. Now there are over 3,000 species of coral and about the same amount of fish living in the reef today.
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral formation in the world! It extends in broken chains of reef for about 1,250 miles along the northeast coast of Australia. Part of the reef lies only 10 miles from the shore, while other parts are as far as 150 miles from the coast. Reef rocks may be dangerous to the ships but the sailors also find them helpful. After the ships pass inside, the reef shields them from the open sea. The water near the reef contains pearls and pearl shells.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Owens, Wayne V. "Great Barrier Reef." World Book Encyclopedia. 1962 ed.
Grove, Noel. "Great Barrier Reef." Australian Government. 16 June 1998..
Yeldon, David. "Last Wild Places." Wadshington. D.C. The Book Division of National Geographis Society, 1996. |