At 132,974 square miles, the Great Barrier Reef is about half the size of Texas, a statistic that becomes even more amazing when you learn the reef was created by teeny, tiny marine invertebrates. Coral reefs are formed when colonies of coral polyps secrete hard exoskeletons made of calcium carbonate, slowly building an underwater home that supports marine life of all shapes and sizes. That’s a feat worth protecting.
A Great view from above
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Sequential images of a total solar eclipse
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The Bahamas
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World Octopus Day
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Best. Holiday. Ever.
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Porto, Portugal
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Meet our fuzzy Earth Day mascot
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National Trails Day
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A midsummer twilight s dream
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Honoring our fallen heroes
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Tambopata National Reserve, Peru
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Autumn in Piedmont
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Here we mark the price of freedom
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Back to the nest
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Terraced fields of green
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World Donkey Day
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An island hopper s paradise
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Tufa formations in Mono Lake, California
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The puffin-rabbit connection
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La Geria wine region, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
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High above the reef
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Giants of the avian world
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Zion National Park Turns 100
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In honor of those we ve lost
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Happy Diwali!
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In the footsteps of Leopold Bloom
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Bardenas Reales Biosphere Reserve and Natural Park, Spain
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Illuminations on the Gulf of Poets
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Martinique
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Eye of the cave
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Grab onto the handlebars, kid
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