Great Barrier Reef

 

The Great Barrier Reef, located off Queensland, Australia in the Coral Sea, is the world's largest coral reef system, extending over 2,300 kilometers with 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands across 344,400 square kilometers of ocean. Renowned for its biological diversity, the reef is home to more than 1,500 fish species, 411 types of hard coral, and a third of the world's soft corals. Additionally, it supports 134 shark and ray species, six of the seven threatened marine turtle species, over 30 marine mammal species, and serves as a critical breeding ground for humpback whales and a sanctuary for endangered species like the dugong and large green turtle.