Vacation and Holidays

1. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was created in 1975 under legislation called the Great Barrier Reef Marine Act, which includes the air above and the earth beneath the sea.

2. It is the largest coral reef system in the world and account for 17 percent of the world reefs.

3. It covers 345,400 sq km, an area larger than Britain, and can be seem from space.

4. It is approximately 2,300 km in length, between 60km and 250km in width, and has an average depth of water of 35m.

5. It consists of 2,900 indiviudal reefs, 600 continental islands and 300 coral cays.

6. Only 6 percent of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park consists of coral reefs. The rest is made up of mangroves, seagrass, sand, and algal and sponge gardens.

7. It is the globe largest World Heritage Area, and was inscribed on the World Heritage List on Oct 26, 1981.

8. It is home to whales and 1,500 species of fish, including huge hammerhead sharks, 360 species of hard coral; one-third of the world soft corals; 5,000 to 8,000 species of molluscs.