The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the largest coral reef ecosystem on planet Earth. It is a vast maze of over 2900 coral reefs, 600 continental islands, and 300 coral cays.
Length
The GBR extends along nearly the entire coast of Queensland. It begins off the far northern tip of Australia (Cape York) and continues south along the Queensland coast to Bundaberg (just north of Brisbane). The Great Barrier Reef growth is limited in the north by the heavy sediment deposits from the rivers of PNG and in the south by water temperature (too cold).
Size
The shape of the GBR reef system is determined by the shape of the underlying Australian continental shelf.
- Number of island: 900 total, 600 sand cays, 300 continental islands
- Number of reefs: 2900
To put it into perspective with other places around the world, it is:
- larger than the Australian states of Tasmania and Victoria combined,
- half the size of Texas (USA), and
- bigger than the Britain and Ireland combined
