Hi, I'm Joral the Coral, and I live in the Great Barrier Reef. I'm one of the oldest corals that's ever lived in this here reef, and probably the oldest in the world. You see, the Great Barrier Reef has been around ever since the Ice Age when it started. It has been growing ever since then and is still getting bigger. It started its expansive life as just one coral polyp, and now has billions of them just in just one small patch of the Great barrier reef. The great Barrier Reef is 80,000 square miles in area and over 1,200 miles long (it could reach from new York city to Miami,Florida).

There are also many species of fish that live in the Great Barrier Reef (over 140 species). Some of them are very large while others are very small. Some of the larger animals are the Great White Shark-a large (normally 600 IBS!) that is featured in a movie called Jaws, another is the hammerhead- a large ,wide headed predator. some of the smaller ones are the White Sea Urchin, Basket Fish, Four Eyed Butter Fish, and the Soldier Fish. To learn more about sea life, go to Coral Renters, a page about sea creatures that live in reefs throughout the world

         The First European Explorer to Discover the Great Barrier Reef was Captain James Cook. Captain cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef in 1768, while sailing a flat-bottomed wooden ship. He discovered it by sinking while trying to cross to Australia. He was then helped by the Aborigines until the other ships in his fleet could safely get to the mainland. He then wrote in his ship log of the large reef, although he didn't realize it's immense size.

          The Aborigines were the first actual Inhabitants on the Great Barrier Reef. They would fish, hunt, and build their homes on and along the Great Barrier Reef throughout the Ice Age, and still are living there now. They lived off of the reef for thousands of years without technology, or even many tools. I think they were a very amazing culture.