The Marine Ecosystem and the Reef ... A Little Bit About It
No one is sure of the exact age of the reef. It is thought to have started growing over 20 million years ago. No doubt there have been many changes in the meantime, but the Barrier Reef as we know it today is about 8,000 years old.
The Aborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders are Queensland's two indigenous groups - the Aborigines lived on the mainland and the Islanders on the Barrier Reef. Today they have 70 Traditional Owner Groups. They traded between the
islands
and the mainland for thousands of years before Captain Cook discovered the reef accidentally, having run aground near Cape Tribulation in 1770. 
It wasn't until 1890 that tourists began learning about the Great Barrier Reef, starting at Green Island, off the coast of Cairns. The Heron Island Research and Teaching Laboratory was completed in 1929 and students are being taught about the marine ecosystem. The Research Station was reopened in early 2009 after being destroyed by fire 2 years previously. 
Tourism increased to all the islands around Cairns and Townsville. After WW2 it spread to the Whitsundays and further south and today there are nearly 2 million visitors to all parts of the reef annually.
In 1975 the GBR Marine Park Commonwealth Act was passed and the GBR Marine Park Authority was given the responsibility of the marine ecosystem from Cape York south, known as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. 
This marine ecosystem is a very fragile system and a careful watch must be kept on such things as oil spills, anchor damage, waste disposal, (both from tourism on the reef itself and agricultural runoff from the mainland). Turtles and Seabirds need protection for their nests.
Zones have been created to regulate the amount, type and quantity of fishing permitted. In fact they have to consider every aspect of the Great Barrier Reef and report on it, advise and enforce as and when necessary. 
There are over 400 types of coral in the reef. Coral needs clear, salty, warm water low in nutrients, and plenty of light. 
Opinions differ about the effect climate change and global warming will have on the Reef. A report published today, (Dec. 2008), by Dr Clive Wilkinson, on behalf of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, in Washington, said the Great Barrier Reef has been rated among the healthiest coral reefs in the world. But ...he warned ... marine research must continue ....we cannot rest on our laurels. 
You may not find them all, but there are 6 types of sea turtles, 15 of seagrass, sea-cucumbers... once a delicacy for the Chinese... dugongs... a staple food for the Aborigines... 17 different sea snakes, starfish, dolphins, 30 whale types … including the famous Migaloo, the all-white humpback whale who makes his journey up from the South each year, following the reef along the coast. He is eagerly awaited and followed by tourists and locals alike. 
As well, be prepared to enjoy the countless coral reef fish, sea sponge...and I’ve probably left out lots more. 
Over 1000 shipwrecks are known, the latest was Pandora, but Kieran Hosty, a Maritime archeologist and curator, who is leading an Australian National Maritime Museum expedition to find the wreck of the HM Colonial Schooner Mermaid, reported in ‘The Cairns Post' on 6/1/09, that they have found this vessel, near the Frankland Islands. This vessel was wrecked 180 years ago. At the start of this expedition they found another wreck near Flora Reef. This was an unknown two-masted yacht, but a Cairns businessman says the details coincide with one lost by his ancestors in this area.
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