12 EPIC OCEAN ADVENTURES 12-Story Library by Marne Ventura
1 Great Barrier Reef Is Visible from Space The Great Barrier Reef is a chain of coral along the northeast coast of Australia It’s bigger than the Great Wall of China It’s the only life form large enough to see from space It’s the world’s largest structure made of life forms The reef has been growing for 500,000 years Coral polyps are animals in the jellyfish family They join together to make reefs A reef is made up of hundreds of thousands of polyps Algae live inside the corals The corals protect the algae from other marine life The algae make food for the coral The algae also make a limestone skeleton for the coral The algae give corals their beautiful colors This NASA space image shows the reef is not a single reef but a vast maze of reefs passages and coral islands
CORALS IN DANGER Corals need water between 70 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit 21 to 38 C to live Global warming caused by mining and burning fossil fuels like coal is making the oceans warmer In recent years warmer ocean waters have been killing corals in the Great Barrier Reef 10 percent of the world’s fish species live in the Great Barrier Reef 2 million Number of people who visit the Great Barrier Reef each year The Great Barrier Reef is a huge coral structure Coral polyps and algae grow to form the reef The reef is home to thousands of colorful sea animals The Great Barrier Reef is home to all kinds of marine life Whales dolphins and porpoises live there Over 1,500 fish species and 5,000 mollusks are found on the reef Sea snakes turtles crocodiles and seabirds abound The bright colors of the fish and the clear blue water are a favorite sight of visitors People from all over the world come to the Great Barrier Reef They can scuba dive snorkel Jet Ski skydive or ride in glass-bottom boats
