Coral bleaching is not just a national problem that Australia faces alone. In the last year (2015), 12 percent of the world’s coral reefs have bleached (Howard). Since the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef, covering 133,000 square miles, and stretching 1,200 miles along the coast of Australia, it poses an incredible threat to Australia’s economy and environment (Howard). Coral bleaching is not an issue that is often plastered all over the news or brought to people’s attention often. Coral Reefs, especially the Great Barrier Reef are seen as the perfect tourist destination because reefs are known for their wide variety of marine life and beautiful bright corals one would see on brochures. However, when a coral is bleached, it loses
Primary consumers are normally herbivores therefore they feed off of producers. There is a wide variety of herbivorous animals that reside in the Great Barrier Reef. These include invertebrates such as molluscs and echinoderms, as well as certain species of fish, the most notable being the parrotfishes, surgeonfishes, rabbitfishes, rudderfishes and damselfishes. The primary consumer’s role in the Great Barrier Reef’s food chain consists of them feeding off of the primary producers such as coral, therefore transferring the energy from the producer to consumer. The primary consumer only obtains around 10% of the producer’s energy as they may not eat the whole entity or energy might be lost through waste. The population of the largest and most significant vertebrate plants feeds, including sea turtles, dugongs, have been severely decimated by the impacts of humans on the reef. The loss of these vital animals has and will more severely disturb the coral reef food web in a significant manner, although the specific impacts are not clear
Short breaks in Boigu are a good way to get to know the local culture. Boigu Island has an estimated population of 340 permanent residents. Although it is part of Queensland, Australia, it is geographically located just 3.7 miles off the coast of mainland Papua New Guinea (PNG). When looking at a map, you might assume it is part of PNG instead of Australia, but you would be wrong. In spite of being more than 60 miles off the coast of Australia, it was annexed by Queensland in the late 1800s by special decree. It was one of several islands in the region supporting a lucrative pearl diving industry at that time.
The Great White Sharks, known mostly because of their white underbellies, are one of the most powerful aquatic animals in the world. They can swim at about 25 Miles Per Hour (40 Kilometers per hour) because of their strong muscles and forceful tails. In addition to that, male Great Whites can grow around 11.5 to 13.1 feet long, while females can grow from 14.8 to 16.4 feet long. This paper will demonstrate how Great White Sharks are an important part of their ecosystem, how their diets work and will adequately describe their habitats.
The Great Barrier Reef is actually the largest living thing on Earth. In fact, it can even be seen from space. The only problem with reefs is that they can only survive under a certain temperature range. If the temperature is too low or too high for the reefs, this causes the algae, which gives the coral their beautiful and bright colors, to leave the coral, and therefore causing the coral to become bleached (National Ocean Service). This is exactly what has happened this year. Data has recently been released that El Niño has caused complete bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef (The New York Times). Let that sink in, the World’s largest living thing, that has been around for about 500,000 years, is dying this year. People need to realize that
The purpose of this report is to investigate the impacts of urban development on biodiversity at stumers creek dog beach. This report will include data collected from the creek including; water samples, soil samples and animal and excrement surveys in order to determine the health of the environment.
To help contribute to these human-induced changes we can start by helping reduce dredging. This can be done by signing a petition to help reduce dredging and destroying the Great Barrier Reef this is easily done and can make a huge difference. We can help become more sustainable for the reef following the sustainability plan in the Great Barrier Reef we can do this by reducing household energy use, eating locally, recycle and save water. We can also help for reducing the poor water quality in the Great Barrier Reef. We can help as individuals by keeping paved surfaces clean, wash vehicles on your lawn, reduce fertilizer use. This is effective as they would reduce the bad water quality affecting the reef and would reduce dirty water from being washed into the ocean and destroying the Great Barrier
The FKNMS is located off the tip of Florida containing over 1700 islands. These chains of islands are coral reefs that are just south from the Key Biscayne and extend southwest for approximately 126miles. These islands end about 90 miles north of Cuba. These islands are not suitable for people to live on because of there size. The FKNMS covers over 2800 square nautical miles. The FKNMS was established due to the demise of the coral reefs in the Keys. Low water quality, decline in coral reef habitats, and oil drilling eventually lead President George H. Bush to establish the FKNMS on November 16, 1990. FKNMS also contains the Key Largo and Looe Key sanctuaries, which were facing the same environmental challenges.
Reef faces many types of challenges and learns to overcome these in life. The traffic
The climate in the southeast region is very humid during the summer but when it is Fall it is very cold but sometimes it’s a tiny bit warm during the winter. During the west region climate it is warm and windy it’s also cold in the Fall too.
With the health of the ecosystem spreading with word of mouth, around the world, the attractiveness for visitors is being changed and thus affecting the marketability of the Reef. Although the increasing coastal population will increase the economic value of the Reef Trips, the economic benefits of direct use will be affected by the impacts of external factors. (Anon.,
Hot with tropical temperatures all year with coastal areas being warmer than central regions. There are two rainy seasons; the heaviest is from May to August and the other is from November to December. Hurricanes may sometimes occur during these periods.
Temperatures reaching highs of 30 degrees Celsius, we expected nothing less, summers have been getting unbearable and winters are nothing to what they used to be. Today started with a warm, gentle breeze with off and on rainfalls this type of weather was typical.
Climate change is the biggest long-term threat to the Great Barrier Reef and coral reefs worldwide, according to the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan. It has caused sea temperature increases, ocean acidification, altered weather patterns, and rising sea levels. The sea temperature increases affect many species. It causes coral bleaching to occur, which is when the microscopic algae separates from coral, taking the color, as well as the energy away. It affects the photosynthesis and reproduction of seagrass, the reproduction of coral, and enables a range of microscopic organisms that cause disease to thrive. It affects the reproduction of fish - because they have a narrow temperature range in order to reproduce effectively -, the sex
Therefore, the impact of overfishing and illegal collecting of coral may destroyed the social and economic well-being of the coastal communities who depend on fish for their way of life. Beside, it is also direct overexploitation of fish, intertebrates, and algae for food and the aquarium trade, removal of a species or group of species impacting multiple trophic levels, bycatch and mortality of nontarget species, and change from coral to algal dominance due to reduction in herbivores (Reef Resilience Organisation,