| THE GREAT BARRIER REEF |
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In 1975, the Government of
Australia enacted the Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park Act 1975, which
created the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Authority. The
Government of Australia manages the
reef through the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Authority and in
partnership with the Government of
Queensland, to ensure that it is
widely understood and used in a
sustainable manner.
The Great Barrier Reef - the world's
largest World Heritage Area is made
up of some 2,800 individual reefs
and is home to an estimated 1,500
species of fish, more than 700
species of hard, reef-building
corals and sponges and over 4,000
mollusc species, as well as whales,
dugongs, turtles and dolphins.
From above, the Great Barrier Reef
looks like a swirl of blues.
Turquoise channels snake between
sapphire coral gardens towards the
foam-edged indigo where the reefs
end and the continental shelf
plunges 1,500m. There are other
blues under the water, and reds,
yellows, purples, greens, oranges
and pinks too, sometimes all on one
fish.
There is a diverse range of
recreational activities on the Great
Barrier Reef. These include:
fishing , diving and snorkelling,
yachting and boating , motorised
water sports, sea kayaking and
windsurfing, photography, and shell
collecting.
Recreational use of the Marine Park
is concentrated around major
regional centres along the
Queensland coast with many operators
offering diving, sailing snorkelling
and extended charter tours of the
Great Barrier Reef.
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