The Great Barrier Reef
by: Dawn N
Location

The Great Barrier
Reef is on the
north-east coast of
Australia.
Weather
Jan
Temp
Feb
Mar
Apri May Jun
l
July Aug Sept Oct
Nov Dec
89 88 87 84 81 78 78 79 82 85 87 89
Rainfall 15.7 15.2 15.4 8.9
Inches
3.6
2.2
1.3
1.2
1.0
1.3
2.7
5.0
Landform
There are 600 islands that make up the Great Barrier Reef.
Animals

Nudibranch
– Nudibranchs live on sea squirts,
sponges, and other poisonous
animals. They recycle the toxins
for their own defense.
– They are called solar-powered
because they eat soft corals,
which generally have algae living
in their tissues. They don’t digest
the algae, instead they keep the
algae in their skin. The algae
continue photosynthesizing,
making food for themselves and
the nudibranchs.
Hard Coral that is no bigger than a
fingernail. They only grow about a half
inch a year.
Cone snails have a tubelike siphon called a
proboscis, for sniffing out worms and other prey on
the seafloor. The cone snail injects poison that causes
muscle spasms and death. It can also poison a
human, although deaths are rare.
Plants
Seagrass
Sponge
Mangrove
Threats


Human expansion is one of the biggest
threats to coral reefs. As we change
the landscape, the amount of
freshwater runoff increases.
Pollution also damages the reef.
Questions & Answers

The Great Barrier Reef has a collection of over ______
types coral reefs.


1,500 different species of ______ live here.


fish
There are _____ kinds of mollusc.


400
4,000
_________________ is the habitat of some
threatened species like the dugong ('sea cow') and the
large green turtle.

The Great Barrier Reef
Sources:




Great Barrier Reef @
www.nationalgeographic.com
World Heritage Great Barrier Reef.htm
http://www.crystalinks.com/greatbarri
ereef.html
http://www.divethereef.com/Guides/Se
asonsF.asp