The Great Barrier Reef An Ancient Treasure

The Great Barrier Reef is an extremely ancient, enormous host of living things, composed of living coral
growing on dead coral dating back perhaps as much as twenty million years.
Ten Facts about The Great Barrier Reef:
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The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space.

Around 10 percent of the world's total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Barrier Reef is a popular tourist destination with over two million visitors each year.
Sediment, nutrient and agriculture pesticide pollution from river catchment run-off is also affecting the
health of the Great Barrier Reef.
Too much or poorly managed tourism could be a risk to the reef, fortunately tourism on the reef is very
well managed at the moment.
The Great Barrier Reef is greater in size than the United Kingdom, Holland and Switzerland combined.
Turtles and Crocodile , have been around since prehistoric times and have changed little over the
millennia.
The Great Barrier Reef extends into the airspace above and into the earth beneath the seabed.
The Great Barrier Reef is the worlds largest living structure.

10. 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