Dive Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef diving generally means diving sites
that are not frequently visited. In order to dive barrier
reef sites under these conditions it is necessary to travel
by sea quite a long distance from the mainland. The reef
acts as a barrier to the sea and reduces ocean swells so
that the seas within the reef are quite calm making for comfortable
cruising and the best scuba diving Australia can offer.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
The
Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is the lead agency for World
Heritage Area issues. The Authority is the principal adviser
to the Commonwealth Government on the care and development
of the Marine Park.
For
completely unbiased and factual information on scuba diving
Queensland, Whitsunday Islands
and requirements to dive Great Barrier Reef Australia, you
should visit:http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/index.html
If you are interested in weather patterns on the Queensland Coast
for a particular time of year, you can visit
http://www.bom.gov.au/
which will give you factual information for the months
ahead. For historical information on North
Queensland weather in the Whitsunday
Islands, search under Hayman Island. Hayman Island is
the official weather station for the
Whitsunday Islands.
Coral Reefs
Three different types of coral reefs are:
1. Platform Reefs
- Platform reefs usually lie
in sheltered seas and quite far offshore. They are flat-topped
with small and very shallow lagoons.
2. Fringing Reefs
- Fringing reefs are relatively
young. They can develop in shallow waters along the coast
of tropical islands or continents. The corals grow upwards
to sea level or just below and outwards towards the open ocean.
Fringing reefs are generally narrow platforms a short distance
from shore and don't contain a substantial lagoon.
3. Ribbon Reefs
Ribbon (also called barrier) reefs only occur in the northern
part, extending from Cooktown to eastern Torres Strait, a
distance of 670 kilometres.
They
form along the edge of the continental shelf and, in some
places, the outer edge is so suitable for coral growth that
the reefs grow high and form narrow walls.
This
almost continuous barrier is only broken by passages between
the individual reefs. Some of these channels, however, are
deep enough for ships to pass though.
Corals
- need three main things for growth. Warm water, sunlight
and low nutrients. Many countries in the tropics have these
conditions but often there are not large areas of shallow
water for the corals to receive the sunlight. On Australia's
norther coast there is a shallow continental shelf only 20
- 30 metres deep which has given the Great Barrier Reef the
chance to form. This means clear ocean water provides us and
the coral reef life with average visibility around 15 m underwater
and lots of available sunlight.
Corals
are animals in the same family as jellyfish but make a solid
skeleton of limestone. They pull themselves into the skeleton
(most corals do this during the day) when they look more like
rock. It is important to understand that they are alive and
sensitive.
