Contrary to popular belief, you can’t see the Great Wall of China from the Moon. In fact, it’s hard to see even from Earth orbit.
Map of the Great Barrier Reef. Credit: www.demis.nlBut another “great” structure is easy to see from space. It was built not by human hands, but by nature. It’s the Great Barrier Reef -- the largest living structure on the planet. It stretches more than a thousand miles along the coast of Australia, and covers an area as big as New Mexico.
The “backbone” of the Great Barrier Reef is actually a series of about 3,000 coral reefs. Some of them stretch for miles, and have been growing for centuries.
The reefs attract a staggering variety of marine life: more than 1500 species of fish, thousands of species of mollusks, and many species of turtles, birds, and marine mammals. The list includes several rare or endangered species, such as the dugong, a marine mammal that’s also known as a “sea cow.” And it also includes some of the nastiest critters on Earth: the great white shark, highly venomous sea snakes, and a tiny but deadly jellyfish.
The Great Barrier Reef isn’t as healthy as it used to be, though. Warmer waters have “bleached” many of the reefs, killing some of the coral colonies. Runoff from the land has created problems, too. And the two million visitors a year pollute the waters and damage the delicate reefs.
New laws are designed to protect the reef system and many of its rare species of life. If they work as planned, the Great Barrier Reef may remain one of the great oases of life on Earth.
