The Great Barrier Reef

http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/images/180-08-04-700.jpg

WHAT ARE CORAL REEFS? THE GREAT BARRIER REEF Coral reefs are among the world’s most biologically The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most magnificent diverse ecosystems. They are also one of the most wonders of the natural world, with its distinctive colors endangered. Coral reefs are made of corals, which and beautiful wildlife, combined with its vast array of are large groups of small animals called polyps. The marine animals. It is home to more than 1,500 species polyps live in a calcium carbonate skeleton. They of fish, 4,000 types of mollusks, and more than 200 have an opening in their center that has tentacles, species of birdlife5. It started forming over 5 million which they use to feed on phytoplankton in the water years ago6. It is more than 260 kilometers from the around them1. Coral reefs are generally found in clear, coast of Australia at its most distant point. Aside from tropical waters, and they usually are found from the its physical attraction, the Great Barrier Reef also acts water’s surface to about 150 feet deep, because they as a wave buffer for Australia, preventing erosion, need sunlight for survival. Coral reefs house property damage, and even death7. The Great Barrier approximately 25% of the life in the ocean, yet they Reef is sensitive to climate change, changes in wave only make up about 1% of the ocean floor2. and current movement, and physical damage. Events such as El Nino, the building of breakwaters, and THREE TYPES OF CORAL REEFS runoff from the land can have negative effects of the There are three types of coral reefs: fringing reefs, Reef system8. The Great Barrier Reef is home to atolls, and barrier reefs. Fringing reefs line the thousands of species, such as sea urchins, sponges, shoreline of land masses, and they are most sea stars, shrimp, lobster, crabs, fish, sharks, commonly found in areas like Hawaii and the dolphins, whales, octopuses, snails, and many more. Caribbean. Atolls are a series of low coral islands It is also home to many species of bird, who feed on surrounding a central lagoon, and are most commonly the plant and animal life in the reefs. found in areas like the Indo-Pacific. Lastly, barrier reefs are found farther from the shoreline in areas like the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean3. They are usually separated from land by a lagoon, and sometimes, they grow parallel to the coast4.

The largest reef in the world is the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia, which is over 1,200 miles long

(“Coral Reefs Biome”). It is not a continuous reef, and it

contains over 2,800 individual reefs, of which 760 are fringing reefs (“World Heritage”). FISH OF THE REEF and generally glide along the bottom looking for food. There are over 1,500 species of fish in the Great They eat mollusks and crustaceans in the sand. They Barrier Reef. Some examples are clown fish, butterfly have moveable eyes, and their mouth is located on fish, parrotfish, snappers, cod, grouper, eels, and their underside. They use electro-receptors to locate many more. The overall structure of fish is their prey. Rays also have flat plates in their jaws, streamlined, and fish vary greatly in size, shape, and which they use to crush the shells of their prey before color. The color patterns on the fish act as a warning they eat them. They are also camouflaged to help to predators that they may be poisonous, or it can prevent predation. camouflage them so they can better hide from their predators and their prey. The smallest fish of the Reef is the goby, which is one centimeter long and weighs less than a gram, and the largest fish of the Reef is the giant cod and grouper that can weigh almost 4,000 kilograms. Most of the fish on the Reef range in size from 1 centimeter to 3 meters. These fish feed on what is most available, ranging from algae to other fish. They also eat plankton. Fish are free-swimmers, and use their fins to maneuver through the ocean water. The life span of fish in the reef is hard to http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http: //zettesworld.com/hdz04b/images/fish/cownos determine, especially for the smaller, preyed on fish. If eray54101.jpg&imgrefurl=http://zettesworld.co a fish can survive being eaten, it can live for quite a m/hdz04b/fish2.htm&h=432&w=576&sz=51&tb while. nid=OaBX4MnKq90PVM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=132& hl=en&start=32&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drays%2 Bfish%26start%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3 Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

CRUSTACEANS There are a variety of crustaceans in the Great Barrier Reef. These include shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and mollusks. They range in size from 1 centimeter to 50 centimeters.

Shrimp They are among the most diverse and active animals http://ssdsupply.com/images/2%20clown%20 on the Great Barrier Reef. They are free-swimming, fish.JPG and they sometimes burrow in the sand to hide from

SHARKS AND RAYS predators. They have claws that help them catch their prey. They eat other crustaceans, small fish, and Sharks and rays are very closely related. Sharks and some feed on plants. rays can range in size from 10 centimeters to 13 meters. There are about 350 species of sharks and Crabs & Lobsters 425 species of rays worldwide. They are both free- Lobsters are the most commonly encountered species swimmers, with sharks using their fish to move on the Reef. They have large, developed claws that through the water. Sharks have streamlined bodies, inflict pain on their prey and on humans. They feed on which help them move fast and turn quickly. Scientific other crustaceans, fish, and plants. They vary in size. investigations have showed that sharks have Crabs also vary in size, shape, and color. They have denticles, which help them move through the water tentacles that help them find their way around the faster by reducing drag from the water around them. ocean. They live in their shells, under the water and They are also counter-shaded for camouflage. Most on land. They are scavengers, and feed on dead or sharks are predators, feeding at dusk or after dark, decaying things. They usually walk sideways, but and they use their rows of razor-sharp teeth to kill their some swim. prey. They feed on fish, squid, sea urchins, crustaceans, and even other sharks.

The decorator crabs specialize in

Rays, on the other hand, are shaped like flattened camouflage, sticking bits of sponge, disks with a long tail. They are also free-swimmers, algae, and other bits and pieces onto their body. They are hard to see, unless they move. Mollusks pores that trap food particles carried by the passing The Great Barrier Reef is home to between 5,000- water. They range from microscopic to 1 meter in size. 8,000 mollusks. Mollusks are soft-bodied animals that They come in many different shapes and colors. They have a hard shell for protection. They vary incredibly have an amazingly developed array of chemical toxins in terms of shapes and forms, but they all have a that ward off predators. They usually attach general structure: a head, and a body supported on a themselves to rocks, hard-shelled animals, or single muscular “foot” that helps them move through seaweed. They can repair and regenerate very easily. the water. Some mollusks do not have shells. They are also very helpful in the process of building Examples are octopuses, squid, and sea slugs. up coral reefs, because they bore into rocks, shells, or Because these do not have a shell, they defend corals and help in bio-erosion. themselves from predators by being brightly colored or very unpleasant tasting. Some even spray ink or a jet of water.

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/ead/EA Dimages/Sponges.png http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/images/a nimalpics/crusteacean1.jpg WHALES Whales are warm-blooded mammals. They have SEA CUCUMBERS streamlined bodies and compact flippers that help with There are approximately 1,150 species of sea balance, steering, and movement through the water. cucumbers worldwide. They range in size from 1 Whales can reach up about 15 meters in length. They centimeter to 60 centimeters. They are shaped like a are divided into two groups: those with teeth (called big sausage. They do not really have a shell, but they toothed whales) and those without teeth. There are have protuberances that act as body armor for also the baleen whales, which use baleen plates to protection. Some species are camouflaged to look like get their prey from the sea. Baleen whales eat krill, rocks on the seafloor. They have tentacles that they plankton, and small fish. Examples are the blue whale, use to mop up particles for food. They spend their humpback whales, and right whales. Toothed whales, time lying on the seafloor or burrowing in the sand. such as the sperm whale and killer whale, eat sharks, They are immobile until the sun sets. Sea cucumbers seals, dolphins, birds, squid, and fish. Whales breathe eat tiny scrap particles, wiping their tentacles over the through their lungs, and therefore, surface regularly to sediments on the seafloor to get food. breathe. They also produce high-pitched sounds for communication purposes. Humpback whales produce “songs” that can last for hours. As a defense mechanism, sea cucumbers can throw up their entire digestive system! This distracts their predators, which usually goes for their regurgitated food instead of them. It then takes the sea cucumber a couple months to grow its digestive tract back in its entirety.

SPONGES

There are approximately 1,500 species of sponges in http://www.vanaqua.org/conservation/ceta the Great Barrier Reef. They are bottom-dwellers. ceans/killer%20whales%202.jpg They are loose colonies of cells, with an outer wall of AUSTRALIAN PELICANS WATER PROPERTIES IN THE GREAT Pelicans are very large birds, and the Australian BARRIER REEF Pelican is the largest of the seven species of Pelicans. Coral reefs need water between 68-82 degrees They are characterized by long bills and a massive Fahrenheit, which is often located along the eastern throat pouch. Their bills are usually 40-50 centimeters shores of land. They usually develop in areas with a long. The Australian Pelican also has the largest beak lot of wave action, because the waves bring in food, of any bird in the world. They weigh anywhere from 4- nutrients, and oxygen. They also prevent sediment 6.8 kilograms and are 1.6-1.8 meters long. They have from falling on the reef. Reefs need calcium to grow, massive wings, with a wingspan of 2.3-2.5 meters. which is usually more readily available in warm, Fish are the main part of the Pelican’s diet, but they tropical waters11. Reefs usually have nitrogen and also eat crustaceans, tadpoles, and turtles. They do phosphorus of some form in their waters. Production hold food in their beaks, but only for a short period of of the Great Barrier Reef is partially controlled by time. Impressively, they can live between 10- 25 years dissolved inorganic nutrients, like nitrogen and or more9 10! phosphorus, which are taken up by the phytoplankton in the Reef and converted into organic matter12. The water of the Great Barrier Reef is very warm, with much available sunlight, and the water is generally very salty and low in nutrients. The Great Barrier Reef has a tropical climate. The area is characterized by strong tidal currents, which are usually semi-diurnal with diurnal inequality towards the north. The maximum tidal range is about 3 meters by the coast, and increases from the coast to about 6-9 meters farther out. The water is vertically mixed for most of the year, but is affected by stratification due to freshwater input during January to April13. The waves bring in and deposit sediments on the ocean floor, such as rocks and sand. The rocks and sand are home to many organisms in the reef, such as sponges http://www.deskpicture.com/DPs/Nature/Ani and crustaceans that burrow in the sand. mals/PelicanAu.jpg

Coral reefs are being destroyed at an alarming rate. It is estimated that 10% of the world’s coral reefs have already been destroyed. This destruction is due in large part to humans. Things like pollution, sewage, irresponsible fishing, poor tourism practices, erosion, and global warming damage these beautiful habitats (“Coral Reef Biome”). The Great Barrier Reef is endangered, as well, and needs to be protected, along with all the

world’s beautiful coral reefs. http://www.passions.com.au/images/onboar d_deck_large.jpg

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2 "Coral Reefs Biome." 12 Apr. 2006 .

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"World Heritage: Great Barrier Reef." World Heritage. 5 Feb. 2006. Department of the Environment and Heritage. 13 Apr. 2006 .

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Text Box: "Coral Reefs Biome." 12 Apr. 2006 .

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13 Protected Areas Programme." 5 Jan. 2001. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 13 Apr. 2006 .