When you take a great barrier reef vacation to explore the outer barrier reef islands and dive the great barrier reef australia you will enjoy the Queensland holiday experience of a lifetime.You can try barrier reef snorkeling or scuba diving to swim with the coral reef fish and explore the barrier reef islands on a day trip and then return to cairns to enjoy your stay at one of the many hotels in Cairns.
Located off the North Queensland coast of Eastern Australia, The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world covering more than 300,000 square kilometres and is made up of over 3000 living coral reefs and more than 600 spectacular sub tropical and tropical islands, many with luxury barrier reef resort hotels nestled into the natural suroundings.
OUTER GREAT BARRIER REEF
Here is an outstanding arial view of The Outer Great Barrier Reef as it is seen from a tourist helicopter joy flight high above the outer reef showing the incredable beauty and shear magitude of the Great Barrier Reef as it stretches along the continental shelf up the east coast of North Queensland Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef Australia stretches for over 2000 kilometers from up past Tropical North Queenslands Cape York Peninsular in the north to Central Queenslands Lady Elliot Island near Bundaberg in the south and is the worlds largest living structure. The Great Barrier Reef that exists today is believed to be between 6000 and 8000 years old, established during the last ice age, but structure of the Great Barrier Reef itself originated around half a million years ago.
The true origons of the Great Barrier Reef though! dates back tens of millions of years, when Australia drifted northwards from the huge super continent known as Gondwana Land and slowly turned, placing Cape York Peninsular into the tropical warm waters near the equator, thus creating the perfect conditions for corals to grow. Then over long periods of time, sea levels fluctuated greatly due to shifting continents and ice ages and because coral can not survive out of water, each time the sea level dropped, the living coral reefs died, then when the sea level rose again, new coral reefs were formed on top of the old ones, and the cycle started all over again. This process continued over the millenia to create the magnificent Great Barrier Reef that we can see today.
Coral can take hundreds or even thousands of years to develop, with growth rates of just one centimeter per year for the larger species and about 15 to 20 centimeters per year for some smaller corals, depending on the species. Stangely enough, coral is actually an animal, not a type of sea plant that scientists once thought. There are two main types of coral, of which both can be found in abundance at The Great Barrier Reef, there is hard coral and soft coral and they all have the same body, which is called a polyp.
Covering almost 350,000 square kilometers from the Queensland coastline to the outer Barrier Reef at the edge of the continential shelf, The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area, that was declared in 1981, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority now protects most of the Great Barrier Reefs diverse and delicate eco system. With restrictions on fishing and the protection of coral reefs and marine species such as dolphins, green turtles and dugongs, they are saving the reef for future generations to enjoy, so they can dive the great barrier reef and wonder at its unspoilt beauty.
There is also plenty of great barrier reef tours that
depart from Townsville, Cairns and Port Douglas to barrier reef resorts
where you can stay on a tropical island in total luxury.
