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A major coral bleaching event took place on this part of the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef systems, stretching along the East coast of Australia from the northern tip down at Cape York to the town of Bundaberg, [1] [2] is composed of roughly 2,900 individual reefs and 940 islands and cays that stretch for 2,300 kilometres (1,616 mi) and cover an area of ...
Most nesting sites are on islands in the northern and southern regions of the Great Barrier Reef, with 1.4 to 1.7 million birds using the sites to breed. [56] [57] The islands of the Great Barrier Reef also support 2,195 known plant species; three of these are endemic. The northern islands have 300–350 plant species which tend to be woody ...
This contributes to the conditions which allow the Great Barrier Reef to thrive, keeping the east coast around 18 °C year round instead of dropping to 12 °C in the winter. [4] The current is very low in nutrients but remains important for the marine ecosystem. The EAC transfers heat from the tropics to the mid-latitude water and atmosphere. [5]
During that time, between 2016 and 2024, the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem and one of the most biodiverse, suffered mass coral bleaching events.
Heron Island, Australia. A cay (/ ˈ k iː, ˈ k eɪ / KEE), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef.Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef.
Fairfax Islands is a pair of small coral cays, both of which have been used as a bombing range. They are located near the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 113 kilometres (70 mi) due east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and 405 km (252 mi) north of the state capital Brisbane.
In 1981, the Great Barrier Reef was inscribed on the world heritage list. [10] Tourism is regarded to be an important way that Australia can fulfill its duty to present the Great Barrier Reef in accordance with the world heritage convention. [6] In the 1980s, tourism in the Great Barrier Reef region expanded rapidly. [11]
It describes the organisms and ecosystems of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and the biological, chemical and physical processes that influence them. Issues discussed include climate change, coral bleaching, coral disease and coral reef fishing. The book includes a field guide to help people identify the common animals and plants on the reef.