The Great Barrier Reef
Text and Photographs by
Marc Eckert
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to snorkel in the underwater world of a coral reef? Spit in your goggles, and get your snorkel ready because I am going to take you on a journey to the largest coral reef system in the world.
Welcome to Australia, home of the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest collection of coral in the world. There are over 400 types of coral that can be found in the Great Barrier Reef but that is not all you will find. Fish and mollusks abound in the reef with over 1,500 and 4,000 varieties, respectively living on the reef. 175 species of birds along with sponges and crustaceans can also be found contributing to this diverse ecosystem.
A coral reef is a colony of tiny animals, or coral polyps, that grow together in large numbers. These tiny animals secrete a substance that forms a hard skeleton around them. These skeletons provide the structure to reef systems in the ocean. Corals can also only grow in very specific areas of the world depending on a variety of water conditions. For example, the water temperature must be between 23 and 29 degrees Celsius and the water must have enough clarity to allow large amounts of light to pass through to the developing coral.
One might wonder, “How the diverse aquatic life in the Great Barrier Reef interacts in one habitat together?”
The organisms that live together on the reef actually help each other survive in a variety of different ways. For example, let’s take a look at the parrotfish. There are over 90 different species of parrotfish that live around the world. Many of these live in coral reefs and perform an important task there.
A parrotfish is important to the survival of the reef because it feeds on the algae that adheres to the coral. By feeding on the algae , the parrotfish allows coral to breath more easily which enables the polyps to maintain their health.
While this helps the coral stay healthy, it also provides the parrotfish with the necessary nutrition it needs to survive on the reef. This kind of interaction is common on the reef and is not limited to the parrotfish and the coral, it simply demonstrates the complexity of the relationships between the inhabitants in this ecosystem.
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most unique and amazing treasures of the natural world. It is important that we understand the interdependency that exists in coral reefs so that our actions don’t affect the relationships that exist in these systems.