Вчені називають Великий Бар’єрний риф мертвим

Great Barrier Reef of Australia passed away in 2016 after a long illness. It was 25 million years old. Or most of its life the reef was the world's largest living structure and the only one visible from space. It was 1400 miles long with 2900 individual reefs and 1050 islands. In total area it was larger than the United Kingdom and it contained more biodiversity than all of Europe combined. It harbored 1625 species of fish, 3000 species of mollusks, 450 species of coral, 220 species of birds and 30 species of whales and dolphins. Among its many other achievements the reef was home to one of the world's largest populations of dugong and the largest breeding ground of green turtles. The reef was born on the eastern coast of the continent of Australia during the Miocene epoch. Its first 24.99 million years or seemingly happy ones marked by overall growth. It was formed by corals which are tiny anemone like animals that secrete shell to form colonies of millions of individuals.