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The Great Barrier Reef
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By Jack Engel (Animals (Loggerhead Sea…
The Great Barrier Reef
By Jack Engel
Animals
Loggerhead Sea Turtle These beautiful turtles get their names from the fact that their head looks like a giant log. They live about 50 years in the wild, and nest every 2-3 years, and she'll lay eggs four times in a single nesting season.
Bottlenose Dolphins These types of dolphins, similar to humans, are social animals and great communicators, but they are also amongst the most intelligent of animals in the world. This is because of the sheer size of their brain, which is around 3.3-3.5 pounds.
Wobbegong There are about 12 species of Wobbegong (which means "shaggy beard" in Australian aboriginal), some of which can grow up to 10 feet in length. They are known to be a relatively lazy kind of shark, and don't swim very often... but they can walk.
Box Jellyfish These jellyfish can grow up to 10 ft in length and about 10 ft across, and they are also a very big threat to Australian swimmers. Their stings are known to be among the most deadly in the world due to the potency of their venom.
Blue Coral Blue coral have microscopic algae living within their tissues, and these algae, when undergoing photosynthesis, produce nutrients that the coral can use as food. It is also the sole member of the order Helioporcea.
Plants
Mangroves Mangroves are unique for trees, for they are the only ones that can tolerate salt water. They are critical to aquatic ecosystems, like that of the Great Barrier Reef because not only does it give shelter to many different animals, like birds and fish, but it also helps them survive.
Seaweed The name “seaweed” is a bonafide misunderstanding because a weed is a plant that spreads so profusely it can harm the habitat where it takes hold. Not only are the fixed and free-floating “weeds” of the sea utterly essential to innumerable marine creatures, both as food and as habitat, they also provide many benefits to land-dwellers, most notably us humans.
Algae Algae can produce upwards of 71% of all the oxygen on Earth and can help to remove large amounts of Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere. However, when they bloom, there can be detrimental effects on human life and aquatic ecosystems due to vast amounts of toxins being released.
Seagrass Seagrass can actually play a huge role in keeping the water it's in squeaky-clean. When the water is clouded up by fast-moving sediment, that sediment can settle on the plant's leaves by slowing down those particles. It can also act as a filter of sorts for nutrients, which the plant use for photosynthesis.
Kelp Kelp are extremely fast growers, for they can grow up to 18 inches in a single day. They also don't have standard roots, they have what's called haptera: a cone-shaped mass of branching extensions that are used to hold kelp to rocks to stablize them.
Climate
Seasons Since the reef is in a subtropical reigon and climate, there are only two seasons: a wet season, and a dry one. In other words, winter (May-October) and summer (November-April).
Rainfall Some places in the Reef get from 0.9-18 inches of rain per month of rainfall, again, depending on the season (dry or wet).
Water Temperature Water temperature, on average, ranges from around 73.4-84.2 degrees, depending on the time of year.
Weather Temperatures range from about 75 degrees in the cold season, or winter, peaking at around 86 degrees in the summer.
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Fun facts
Did you know that the Great Barrier Reef stretches for over 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers)? That's a little more than the distance from Boston to Miami!
Did you know that the Great Barrier Reef predates human existence? It's an enormous host of living things, and the cycle of new, living coral growing on top of dead coral dates back around 20 million years! Meanwhile, humans have been around for around 200,000 years.
Did you know that around 10% of all the fish species in the enitre world live on the Great Barrier Reef?
Did you know that the Great Barrier Reef is so massive, it can be seen from outer space?
Did you know that warmer ocean temperatures are putting the reef's future in jeopardy? The rising temperatures are causing coral bleaching, which can have detrimental effects on the reef system, including the loss of a habitat for some species.