!!!Great Barrier Reef

by members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

6 May 2013

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Strange as it may seem, I will start the story about my trip to
Australia from Ethiopia.

Some believe that spending winter in Moscow is not the best idea, and so
some people tend to escape winter's embrace to beaches with palms trees.
Photographers feel cold as well and also dream of sunny destinations. So
a trip to Ethiopia in early January looked like a good alternative to a
standard downhill skiing.

Upon arrival to Addis Ababa the weather was great: +10 degrees Celsius
outside the airport. Then we had to take another flight and to spend 8
hours in the car. Finally we were in the salt desert. It was
suspiciously hot, obviously over 30 degrees Celsius, if not over 40. So
I was waiting for the sunset. The sun finally set but the heat did not
subside. The sweat was dripping down my face and I started wondering —
What is this place? And they explained that it's "depression" — 140
meters below sea level. It was cool that time of the year, but in the
summer temperature goes over 50 Celsius. There was an occasional breeze,
but dust would accompany it. I was trying to cool down in our
air-conditioned jeep.

But instead of cooling the A/C brought me nothing, but a cloud of dust.
I was almost boiling under the sun. It turned out we had to spend 4 days
there. I was saved by two things: dipping my T-shirt and a sunhat in
water every hour, which gave me 20 minutes of coolness, and a bottle of
cold Coca-Cola from a local grocery store. It was the most delicious
drink I have ever tasted in my life!

So how did I end up in Australia? Finally, after arriving at a decent
hotel with internet connection, I read the news and saw a headline:
"Heat waves in Australia". The story was about +46 degrees in Sydney and
+52 degrees in Melbourne. By that time I already got my tickets to the
Great Barrier Reef (hereinafter GBR) — to the part of the fifth
continent closest to the Equator.

[{Image src='01_Great Barrier Reef.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='449'}]

That's when I realized what kind of winter I'm facing. This is why I
thoroughly enjoyed Moscow cold weather during a weeklong break between
Ethiopia and Australia.

This was summer time in Australia. Arriving at Cairns, I found out that
even though my hotel faced the ocean, or rather the Coral Sea, the beach
was empty. It turned out that summer is the dead season. The sea is so
warm that the coastal water is filled with some harmful jellyfish and
swimming is strictly prohibited.

The heat of +38 degrees with 100% humidity was almost unbearable. But
car and room air conditioning, as opposed to Ethiopia, worked just fine.
Taking my chances I've decided to go for a walk along the promenade
towards restaurants. Of course I was sweating, but I didn't feel like I
was suffocating while being locked up in a "submarine". Walking into any
store brought a breath of fresh air. Plus Ethiopian hardiness somehow
affected my body and it endured. I'll be getting ahead of myself by
telling you that I froze near the open door while in a helicopter on the
altitude of 1.5 kilometers.

[{Image src='02_Great Barrier Reef.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='485'}]

I love to plan my trips ahead of time. Two weeks before going to
Australia I sent letters to many helicopter companies that offered
flights over the BBR. And the only thing I heard back from them was
silence. I was expecting a prompt reply and I was very surprised when I
didn't receive one. I decided that I will have to deal with it upon
arrival. And just the day before my departure I finally received the
first answer. The letter contained an apology and a link to the article.
It appears that while there was a heat wave in the south, the north part
of Australia was hit by days-long rainfall that flushed service
provider's cell towers, and they sat on the bank without cell phones and
Internet. This is why they received my email much later. But the
important thing was that they did get it!

The town of Cairns is considered a "gateway" to the BBR. Coral islands
in this area are situated close to the coast, and renowned diving points
are only several hours away by a boat. Apparently there is no jellyfish
far away in the sea.

But my task was to describe the beauty of BBR from above while in a
helicopter.

[{Image src='03_Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday beach.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday beach' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='540'}]

The first flight was a disappointment. During the flight, despite all
enthusiastic descriptions, I didn't discover anything even remotely
interesting. The only thing I saw was a sandy island measuring 5x15
meters. It was a perfect place where you could feel like on a deserted
island. However, the sight of helicopter standing still on the sand
destroyed my exotic fantasy.

When we returned, the head of helicopter company invited me to his
office and started talking about getting residence permit in Australia.
I couldn't understand what was it exactly that he wanted from me. In the
end he asked me directly if any of my friends wanted to get a residence
permit by investing in the Australian economy, that is by buying his
company. I promised to ask around. But so far no one has responded!

After reviewing the photos I realized that I do not feel any joy and
satisfaction. And then I heard an email alert from my MacBook: a letter
came from the company http://www.skysafari.com.au, located 80 kilometers
to the north of Port Douglas. They finally restored their connection to
the Internet! I immediately dialed the phone number, and the voice on
the other end assured me that I can reach much more beautiful BBR reefs
from Douglas, and I can also see Lizard Island as a bonus!

In the morning I was standing near small trailer in the open field with
parked helicopter. This time we had a longer flight, but the pictures
below us were more interesting: winding coral reefs lined up in chains,
and Lizard Island, where we had to refuel, made a really big impression.

[{Image src='04_Great Barrier Reef, Heart Reef.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef, Heart Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='459'}]

The sun was setting and we were on our way back when pilot suddenly
steered towards the mountains, hovered over the waterfall and flew in
the direction of a big cloud. When I asked him about it, he said that he
wanted to show me a rainbow, which is formed around the helicopter
shadow projected on the cloud.

There was a rainbow, but so weak that it could not be captured: my
camera refused to focus on a cloud, and the moment was lost. After we
landed, I went through the photos and was about to admit that I had to
wrap up the BBR project when I noticed a beautiful photo on one of the
trailer's walls: it was a picture of a small coral island shaped like a
heart. When I asked if it was photoshoped, I was told that there is an
actual reef like that 400 kilometers to the south of the shore and that
it will take an hour to get there. I felt that my tour was incomplete
without the "heart", and the next day I went to the town of Airlie
Beach.

Staying at the beachfront hotel, I finally figured out how Australians
cheat jellyfish: a fabulous pool was dug 10 meters away from the beach,
where you can safely swim in the sea waters. The city was occupied by
young people. As opposed to Cairns and Port Douglas there were at least
five nightclubs open all night long, and small groups of girls in high
heels strolled the main street from on club to another. They were
accompanied by groups of boys, of course.

The next morning I flew to the Heart Reef. Along the way I saw several
interesting islands, and one of them, Whitsunday Island, made a very
strong impression. It is a big deserted island and a National Park.
After white sugar sand and bent palm trees I suddenly spotted a stunning
Whitsunday beach — a very long beach recognized as the most beautiful
beach in Australia. The only way to get there is by boat or, like me, on
a helicopter.

[{Image src='05_Great Barrier Reef.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='428'}]

Adjacent to the beach is a picturesque inlet that can be described as a
river bed filled with water from the sea during the high tide that
brings all sorts of shockfish and different sharks, and during the low
tide it shrinks down and becomes sandy beach.

I had to ask the pilot to slow down the helicopter in order to take
pictures of this wonderful place. Another 40 minutes of flying and we
arrived at the "heart". Yes, this reef was worth the couple of days it
took to get to it. I was shotting it both from high and low altitude,
using my telephoto lens until the pilot warned we were running out of
fuel.

On the way back we landed on the Whitsunday beach. I had a sunbed and a
bottle of champagne with me. I took my time sipping champagne from a
glass while looking at the turquoise Coral Sea in the last rays of the
setting sun. I wish I had someone by my side to share the delight of the
"heart", sunset, and white sand.

[{Image src='06_Heart Reef.jpg' caption='Heart Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='675'}]

It's amazing but at the moment I didn't feel heat at all, and I had
absolutely no desire to return to my cold homeland.

Text and photography by [Dmitry Moiseenko|http://www.dmphoto.ru]

And now we would like to give you some interesting facts about the Great
Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is located in the eastern part of Australia and
it is one of the greatest wonders of nature. It stretches 2,500
kilometers along the coast and has a territory of 344,400 square
kilometers. It is the largest coral ecosystem of our planet and the
largest natural object formed by living organisms.

It's hard to believe, but during most of Australia's geological history
its coastal waters have been so cold that corals couldn't exist there.
It's explained by the fact that Australia has been a part of Antarctica
for thousands of years. Australia drifted to tropical waters 65 million
years ago. This event coincided with the rise of sea level, which
created conditions that allowed coral reefs to grow near Australia's
northeast coast.

[{Image src='07_Great Barrier Reef.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='449'}]

For the most part the Barrier reef is less than 400,000 years old
because the rest of the time the sea level was too low for corals to
grow. Its youngest parts were formed in the last 200 years, and the most
rapid growth occurred in the last 8,000 years during the rise of the
World Ocean level.

The main part of the reef consists of more than 2,900 individual reefs
of different sizes, ranging from 0.01 square kilometers to 100 square
kilometers. The youngest reefs live on top of the old ones at an average
depth of 15-20 meters. During low tide only a small part of the corals
can be seen on the water surface, and in order to enjoy a more detailed
picture you have to dive into the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

A shallow lagoon separates the coastline and the natural formation of
540 barriers consists of over 600 offshore islands that surround the
reefs. It is a home to four hundred coral species of different colors:
various shades of red, yellow, brown, purple, and even black. The Great
Barrier Reef of Australia is a home to 1,500 species of ocean fish and
500 species of reef fish, including whale shark, the largest fish in the
world. Waters around the reef are inhabited by several species of
whales, dolphins and sea turtles, not to mention a great variety of
shrimps, lobsters, and other small fauna. And finally, the reef provides
shelter for more than 240 bird species. It is no wonder that this huge
formation can be seen perfectly from the outer space.

[{Image src='08_Great Barrier Reef.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='621'}]

Although Australia's aboriginal population started using the coral
islands of the Great Barrier Reef about 40,000 years ago, for a very
long time this natural monument has not been known to the Western
civilization. In year 1770 famous explorer James Cook survived a
shipwreck near the Great Barrier Reef. Many other ships that came here
later faced the same fate. The first person to sail around the Barrier
Reef in year 1815 was Charles Jeffries. Only in year 1980 — when most of
the archipelago was thoroughly explored and mapped — this route became
safe to travel.

Each year near two million tourists visit the Great Barrier Reef of
Australia. However, despite the government's efforts to establish a set
of restrictions aimed to protect coral reef ecosystem, its destruction
is inevitable. In addition to devastation caused by humans (for example,
oil spills from passing ships, or even tourists' suntan lotions
dissolved in the water), the Great Barrier Reef is also susceptible to
risks created by nature itself.

[{Image src='09_Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday beach.jpg' caption='Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday beach' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='503'}]

For example, the so-called fading occurs, which leads to large
quantities of fast deaths of corals. It's caused by global warming that
affects water temperature not only in Australia, but also around the
world. The fragile balance of coral reefs is also greatly disrupted by
tropical storms. And perhaps the worst enemy of the coral reefs is the
crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) that sometime reaches up
to a half-meter in size. They feed on coral polyps. In the 80s the
echinoderms predators caused the most damage to the Great Barrier Reef
in Australia.

[{Image src='10_Planet Great Barrier Reef.jpg' caption='Planet Great Barrier Reef' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='821'}]

According to the study published by the National Academy of Sciences of
the United States in October 2012, since 1985 the Great Barrier Reef has
lost over 50% of corals that form its structure! It is unfortunate that
we were not able to shoot this panorama before, but even now the Great
Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most
impressive nature monuments not only in Australia, but also in the
entire world. See it for yourself on our panoramas.

\\ \\
[16 Panoramas of Great Barrier Reef|Geography/Australia/Australia/Pictures/Panoramas_of_The_Great_Barrier_Reef]











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