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The Great Barrier Reef is the only living organic visible from the orbit of Earth. The Great Barrier Reef, off the east coast of Australia, is one of the wonders of the natural world - it's the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem. The reef is dotted with beautiful islands and coral cays and covers more than kilometres.

The Great Barrier Reef system consists of over 3000 reefs ranging in size from 1 hectare to over 10, 000 hectares in area. Dunk Island is one of over 600 islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Human action in the Reef areas has contributed to increased pollutants and the reef has endured damage.

Protecting the Reef is the responsibility of the Marine Park Authority. In 2003, the previous and Queensland Government, in partnership with a Assortment of industry and community groups, developed the Water Quality Protection Reef Plan as an effort to protect the Reef. The Great Barrier Reef Coastal Wetlands Protection Program is developing measures for the long term conservation and treatment of priority wetlands. These are the basis for the wonderful variety of sea and sea life from the Reef. Coral consists of coral polyps - tiny creatures which combine together to create colonies. The ideal environment for coral is really shallow water at which there is a whole lot of water motion, plenty of light, in which the water is salty and saturated.

There are lots of distinct forms of coral, a few are slow growing and have to be hundreds of years old, others are faster growing. Since the 1960 the Crown of Thorns has been ruining the corals that make up the reef. Another scourge of the world is bleaching, in which corals have died in huge numbers. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, but has been observed on reefs across the world. One of the primary aims of the Reef Plan will be to maintain within the larger ecosystem of the Reef as well as distinct habitats to maintain the biodiversity of the species and population levels.

The Great Barrier Reef area abounds with wildlife, such as dugong and green turtles, sorts of dolphins and whales, over 1500 species of fish, 4000 types of mollusc and over 200 species of bird life. Since 2004, rezoning distinct areas of the world was released to attempt to recognise important habitats as well as identify species of bass as crucial targets of protection. More than two million people visit the world annually generating over $AU2 billion in tourism dollars, making tourism a significant earner for the north-eastern Australian economy. Tourists are carried to the reef system by over 500 vessels, and tourism is permitted through nearly the Park.

Most of the Reef is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and parts of it are protected in certain ways. Tourism could have a negative effect, with fragile corals broken by reef walking or by boats dropping gas along with other sorts of pollution. Much the number of people in the water with the associated run-off of sweat and suntan lotions might have a negative influence on the fragile reef environment. Before visiting the terrific Barrier Reef Marine Park, it's important you research the zoning map for the region you are visiting to be sure of the actions which you may do and in which you are able to do them.

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