Facts and Photos

THE GREAT

The Great Barrier Reef is a popular tourist destination with over two million visitors each year.
Tourism to the reef generates approximately AU$5-6 billion per year.
The Great Barrier Reef is a great holiday destination for families and kids.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system.
The Great Barrier Reef is composed of over 2,900 individual reef.
The Great Barrier Reef has over 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres.
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space.
The Great Barrier Reef is greater in size than Tasmania and Victoria combined.
Thirty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been recorded in the Great Barrier Reef.
Six species of sea turtles come to the reef to breed.
215 species of birds (including 22 species of seabirds and 32 species of shorebirds) visit the reef or nest or roost on the islands.
Seventeen species of sea snake live on the Great Barrier Reef.
More than 1,500 fish species live on the reef.
Around 10 percent of the world’s total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef.
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.