Great Barrier Reef Facts & Figures:
- The Great Barrier Reef is classed as the single largest living organism in the world, spanning a total distance of over 2300km from the Torres Strait in the North to Bundaberg in the South
- The Great Barrier Reef is comprised of over 900 individual islands
- The widest sections of the Great Barrier Reef reach over 65 kilometres at their largest areas
- Over 1500 species of tropical Fish, 400 different types of Coral, 200 types of Birds and 20 types of Reptiles are just some of the lifeforms which inhabit the reef
- The Great Barrier Reef is one of the few Australian features that can be seen from space
- The Great Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage area and listed as one of the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World”
- The Great Barrier Reef covers an overall area that is larger than the size of Italy
- The Great Barrier Reef draws over a million international visitors each year
- In terms of the Australian economy, the Great Barrier Reef alone generates over 6 billion dollars worth of revenue per year
- The depth of the reef ranges from depths of 35 metres inshore to depths of 2000 metres on the outer reef.
- Around 10 percent of the world’s total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef T
- The coral of the Great Barrier Reef has gradually been destroyed in recent years by a pest known as the Crown of Thorns Seastar, a marine organism that eats Coral Polyps