The Great Barrier Reef

Rose Beck 9SG

Background info
One of the Seven Wonders of the World, Great Barrier Reef is the
worlds largest Coral reef ecosystem. It contains 2900 reefs and
900 islands over 2,300 kilometers. It is located in the coast of
Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea, and covers 344,400 km2
of area. The Great Barrier Reef has an average depth of 35
meters in its inshore waters, whereas the continental slopes
extend down to depths of more than 2000 meters. It includes 450
types of corals, 1500 types of fish and 4000 types of mollusks.
The number of different species of animals in a cubic meter of the
Great Barrier Reef is more than other places in the world, since it
is home for many different species. There are also organisms
such as green turtles, and Dugong which are endanger of
extinction so the Great Barrier Reef is important in scientifically
and biologically. The temperature is mild, the rainy seasons and
the dry seasons are distinct able.
Threats & Causes
The ecosystem is under a huge threat from human activities in
many ways. Only less than 5% of the World Heritage area
receives protection. The activities that threaten the ecosystem
include, Destructive fishing practices, over fishing, Careless
tourism, Pollution, Sedimentation, climate change and coral
mining. Destructive fishing practicing includes cyanide fishing,
blast fishing, bottom trawling and muro-ami, which are banging
on the reef with sticks. Bottom trawling is one of the greatest
threats, which is an industrial fishing method where a large net
with heavy weights is dragged across the sea floor and damages
the cold-water coral reefs. Overfishing affects the environmental
balance of the group of coral reef by distorting the food chain and
causing overfished population. Careless tourism includes
unconcerned fishing, diving, boating, fishing and tourisms
touching reefs, rousing sediment, collecting them and dropping
things on the reef. Also, some resorts are built on top of the reefs
and some resorts their waste into the water surrounding the reef
and this cause huge damage to the reefs. For pollution, the
sewage, industrial waste and oil pollution poison the reefs. They
waste these toxics directly into the sea and this causes increase
in the level of nitrogen in seawater, which causes over growth of
algae and overwhelms the reefs by cutting off sunlight.

Sedimentation is increased in the rivers by mining, logging and

farming. This is sent to the ocean and again overwhelms the reefs
by lack of sunlight. Climate change can affect the corals because
corals cannot survive in a high temperature. The global warming
is increasing the levels of coral bleaching. By the change of
weather, the coral reefs are receiving high amount of stress.
Finally, Coral mining is when a living coral is removed from the
reefs to use them as bricks or cements in structures. They are
also sold as souvenirs to tourists. The exporters do not think
about long term damage done by coral mining while it is
damaged a lot already.
How can we prevent
These long-term threats can be prevented by change in human
actions. Destructive fishing and over fishing can be replaced with
ecologically sustainable fishing, which avoids rare species, and
give less damage to the reef. For the tourists, they can try not to
buy the souvenirs from the reef, not touching the reef with hands,
conserving water, not collecting any coral reefs, avoid throwing
wastes in the water, and choosing a resort that is not on top of
the coral reefs and which does not have sewage system near
them. For pollution, planting trees, using low nitrate detergents,
reducing garden chemical use, avoiding wasting and stop riding
oil-wasting boats on the sea would help to stop the pollution.
Sedimentation can be prevented by doing sustainable farming,
only using organic fertilizers not chemicals, decrease amount of
mining by using other resources to replace the coral and also
doing less logging. Reducing electrical use and auto use can
prevent climate change. Coral mining can be prevented by
tourists not buying souvenirs, and using other materials such as
cements to replace the corals that are mined from the coral reefs.
How realistic are these
I think these ways are very realistic by the fact that these can
be done very easily. For people who live near the coral reef can
reduce the amount of carbon and electricity they use to prevent
pollution and climate change by walking or riding bikes rather
than riding cars, turning of air conditioners and using fan instead.
The people who live far away can also do these to reduce
pollution and climate change that also affects the coral reef by
supporting conservation organizations in different ways such as
donating or volunteering, educating others about why we have to

protect the environment, saving energy in home, and reducing

fossil fuel emissions. The tourists can avoid touching the coral
reefs, not buy souvenirs and not making the water polluted by
wastes.