Where is the geographical location of the Coral Sea?

Schematic diagram of geographical location of Coral Sea

In the South Pacific, between Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New hebrides, New Caledonia and 30 degrees south latitude, there is a colorful ocean called Coral Sea. Coral Sea is the largest sea in the world, covering an area of nearly 5 million square kilometers, bordering the Solomon Sea in the north and tasman sea in the south. It is the marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. This used to be the world of corals. They made wonderful efforts and left the largest barrier reef in the world. Numerous atolls and coral platforms, like scattered flowers and stars, are scattered on the vast ocean surface, hence the name Coral Sea.

Coral Sea is located in the tropics, and the water temperature is between 18-28℃ all the year round. The wind speed here is low, the sea surface is calm and the water quality is clean, which is conducive to coral growth. It is famous for its numerous coral reefs. There are three largest coral reefs in the world, namely the Great Barrier Reef, the Tagula Reef and the New Caledonia Reef. The largest Great Barrier Reef is located in the northeast of Australia, with the nearest point being 16km and the farthest point being over 240 km. The Great Barrier Reef is like a long belt, more than 2,000 kilometers long, with the widest point from east to west 150 kilometers and an area of about 80,000 square kilometers. Most of its reefs are submerged, and those exposed to the sea become coral islands. More than 500 coral islands are scattered on the sea surface of more than 900 square kilometers, like rows of castles, guarding Australia's northeast coastal defense. The dense tropical jungle on the island is lush; Beside the white and silver beaches, under the blue water outside the beach, you can see colorful coral reef platforms. With abundant sunshine, fresh air, clean sea water and phosphorus on rocks, it has become a paradise for marine life. The beautiful environment has become a good place for people to visit. 1979, Australia turned the Great Barrier Reef into a marine park, and many rich people came here to invest and develop it. On a relatively large island, there are airports and ports, and an endless stream of tourists can come and go easily by plane and cruise ship. People go boating, swimming, sunbathing and bathing on the beach here. You can also sit on a glass-bottomed sightseeing boat and enjoy the wonderful underwater world. All kinds of fish and shrimp, different colors of shells, let you feast your eyes. Parrotfish wearing red and green ribbons are swallowing coral; Crystal clear trumpet fish in the water; Light and small sparrow gill fish dare to aim at your hand; The arrogant tortoise didn't panic in front of strangers; The underwater coral world is colorful in red, yellow and blue under the sunshine; Or dendritic, or human brain shape, or like wicker, or like flowers, in a variety of ways and fascinating.

Coral reefs on the Coral Sea.

Coral looks like a plant, but it is actually a tenth class animal in the ocean. A coral is often the home of tens of billions of corals. Living coral, colorful in seawater, yellow, green, purple and red, is called the flower under the sea. The white coral we see every day is the remains and bones left by coral after death. Corals are so small that they can only be seen clearly under a microscope. It has no eyes and nose, only sensitive tentacles, which are its sensory organs. Tentacles drift slowly with the current, freely expand and contract, and capture plankton and debris flowing nearby. When you are frightened, immediately retract your tentacles and hide. In the center of the surrounding tentacles, there is a small mouth, which is the mouth of coral, and it is called "mouth channel". The mouth is rectum, without esophagus and stomach. It spits out the digested residue through its mouth, and the anus and mouth are not separated, so there is nothing wrong with calling it a lower animal.

Colored coral

Tiny corals breed offspring, neither like hens laying eggs to hatch chicks, nor like sows and piglets. Coral reproduction is splitting at an alarming rate. It can be divided into two parts, and two parts can be divided into four parts. In a blink of an eye, children and grandchildren are full. But they are all on a coral body. You press me, I squeeze you, you can't tell parents from children. Some corals have sexual reproduction, and through the combination of sperm and eggs, floating larvae are produced, which are discharged from their mouths and drift with the water. When they meet a suitable place, they attach and stand firm, develop into corals and gradually grow into groups. Group corals multiply rapidly, and the old ones die constantly, leaving bones and turning into reefs; New corals continue to climb on the bones of their predecessors. In this way, the predecessors fell down as paving stones, and the younger generation stepped on the bones of the predecessors to continue to build new peaks. This is how coral reef stones are built. Great Barrier Reef and other atolls; Island reefs have also experienced such a process.

Not all corals can build coral reefs. Only calcareous corals, such as stony corals, staghorn corals and rose corals, have this ability. Coral contains zooxanthellae, a unicellular algae, which is very small and helpful for reef building. 1000 zooxanthellae is as big as a grain of rice. It carries out photosynthesis in the sun, absorbs carbon dioxide, releases fresh oxygen, converts nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium into organic matter, provides nutrients for the growth of corals, and makes corals vibrant and beautiful. When the environment gets cold, worms and yellow algae escape every day. Coral loses its nutrition and soon becomes dull, withers and dies. Now there are so many coral reefs in the Coral Sea, which shows that in the reef-building era, there are not only a large number of reef-building corals here, but also vigorous zooxanthellae breeding and growing here. Their successful cooperation has made the Coral Sea so colorful.