The Great Barrier Reef (:

We are staying in Port Douglas, which is an adorable small town. Port Douglas has become an international holiday mecca,for travelers coming to see the Great Barrier Reef, Development is low-rise, low-key and relaxing. It is regarded as the most popular base from which to explore the northern areas. It Shares the same tropical latitude as Tahiti, Port Douglas attracts visitors for its old fashioned charm. Our hostel is called Port-O-Call and is quite nice! The pool is great, and we even have our own bathrooms in our rooms!
Today we visited The Great Barrier Reef on a huge catamaran run by a company called Quicksilver, which is a very integral business to the whole community of Port Douglas. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world; it is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space. The reef contains an abundance of marine life and comprises of over 3000 individual reef systems and coral cays and literally hundreds of tropical islands with some of the worlds most beautiful beaches. The marine park stretches over 1800 miles almost parallel to the Queensland coast. The world's largest collection of corals; in fact, more than 400 different kinds of coral, coral sponges, molluscs, rays, dolphins, over 1500 species of tropical fish, more than 200 types of birds, around 20 types of reptiles including sea turtles and giant clams over 120 years old.
I got to see a shark, doris, & nemos, and lots of awesome fish… we even got to see some sting rays!!! I am so excited to have of been able to cross of visiting the Great Barrier Reef off of my bucket list!!!! It felt so nice to relax and take in some sun, it was such an amazing day!
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish.