Coral Sea: A part of the Pacific Ocean, off the northeastern coast of Australia. The Coral Sea islands, such as; Whitsunday, Lady Eliot Island, Heron, Great Keppel, Hamilton, Hinchinbrook, Willis, and many more, are a territory of Australia. All these islands contain scattered reefs over an area of about 386,000 square miles.
The Coral Sea is contains many beautiful reefs, such as; Lihou, Holmes, and Bouganville reefs, Herald and Magdeline Cays, Chilcott and Diamond Islets, and other coral growths of the Great Barrier Reef and many other coral islands and atolls. The Coral Sea contains no dirt, just reef sand, bleached coral rock, and crystalline water. Most of the fish population is found in the Coral Sea because these are unfished waters, and are very environmentally healthy.
The main sea fans of the Coral Sea are; The White Tip Reef Shark, The Grey Reef Shark, The Silver Tip Whaler, The Twany Shark, The Epaulette Shark, The Thresher Shark, and The Scalloped Hammerhead.
Great Barrier Reef In Australia: A chain of Coral Reefs in the Coral Sea, off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. It is the largest deposit of coral in the world, the reef extends about 2000 km.
Barrier reefs are separated from land by a lagoon, that grow parallel to the coast, which are very large and continuous. In certain parts of The Great Barrier Reef are as close as 16 km to the coast. The reef protects the lagoon from the harsh wind and waves of the Coral Sea. The water within the lagoon is very calm and shallow, and Islets and rings of coral, that are called atolls, are scattered throughout the lagoon, which makes ship navigation difficult. Atolls are annular reefs that develop near the surface of the water, which are circular or subcircular, and they separate a central lagoon.
The Great Barrier Reef is home to a very large number of organisms. A very popular organism is the Polyp. It is made up of the skeletons of tiny, flowerlike water animals, held together by a limestone substance produced by a type of algae. Hundreds of these polyps form coral in a beautiful range of colours and shapes. The Great Barrier Reef gives shelter, food, and protection to a large variety of marine species, and some of the reefs serve as a source of medicine against a variety of illnesses.
Since 1960, crown-of-thorns starfish have invaded parts of The Great Barrier Reef. These animals feed on coral and can destroy large portions of a coral reef. The Australian government has made efforts to try to limit the destruction of the coral, but not enough has been done. Another problem for the coral reefs is that they are being chopped to make tacky jewellery6, and people must be careful not step on them, but people seem to forget that they are living species.
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