So, How Long IS That Reef??

If you've been following my blog and recent application video post, you might be wondering (like Mandy from the video) just how long that reef really is!! Or even WHAT it is (like Constance).

So I thought I'd be kind enough to answer these two questions for all you curious types.

But first check out this awesome footage from Tourism Queensland. You can find out a lot more info by checking out the media section at their site Island Reef Job.com

So the answer to the first question - "Where in the world IS the Great Barrier Reef?", as you've seen in previous posts, is the great country of Australia. Now to be more specific, it borders the northeast coast of the state of Queensland, Australia.

The answer to the second question is a bit more tricky. How long IS the Great Barrier Reef? I guess it depends on where you begin counting coral. Now if you wanted to you could really start counting at the southernmost tip of New Guinea and work your way down from there.

But even if you started in the far north at Somerset, Queensland, Australia and ended at Bundaberg, Queensland in the south, that would be 1480 miles (or 2387 KM for all you people in the rest of the world).


However, most estimates range in the mid-1200 mile range. But when you're talking about a living organism, things are in constant flux. I mean, if you got a big hurricane in it might pull up huge chunks of the reef, and well, then you've lost a few miles...

Then there are the Crown of Thorn Starfish, which eat up coral with gusto. They say as much as 30% of the coral has been digested by these critters. So then, do we count living reef, or dead reef? Dunno.


To all that coral I want to say hurry up and grow already, because the more the better, right? But you can't rush pure wonder...

Stay tuned for some outtakes, some more pics, and some more deadly VPC bios...