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Normanby Island (Queensland)
Normanby Island in north Queensland, Australia, is part of the Frankland Islands 30 km north-east of Babinda, and south-east of Cairns. The Frankland Islands are teeming with permanent and migratory marine life, especially the green sea turtle which nests on the island. Normanby Island, part of the Frankland Islands group offers a comprehensive reef system with a tropical island. The islands are very popular with reef tour operators working from Cairns. It is around 7 hectares or 0.07 square km in size. Australian Institute of Marine Science Randomly located sites on the western sides of the Frankland Islands were surveyed early in 1995, and three sites with permanent markers were set up on the exposed eastern and the sheltered western faces in 1998. These sites were surveyed in January 1999, November 1999 and December 2001. Sites on both faces of these islands were surveyed using fixed transects at the height of the bleaching in April 1998. Over 60% of the hard corals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Australia
The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26th parallel south, 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Queensland that lie partially in the north are included. Also included in Northern Australia are the territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island. Although it comprises 45% of the total area of Australia, Northern Australia has only 5% of the Australian population (1.3 million in 2019). However, it includes several sources of Australian exports, being coal from the Great Dividing Range in Queensland/New South Wales and the natural gas and iron ore of the Pilbara region in WA. It also includes major natural tourist attractions, such as Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Great Barrier Reef and the Kakadu National Park. Geography and climate Almost all of Northern Australia is a huge ancient craton that has not experienced geological ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and Climate of Australia, climates including deserts of Australia, deserts in the Outback, interior and forests of Australia, tropical rainforests along the Eastern states of Australia, coast. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south, respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and the Pacific Ocean; to the state's north is the Torres Strait, separating the Australian mainland from Papua New Guinea, and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the north-west. With an area of , Queensland is the world's List of country subdivisions by area, sixth-largest subnational entity; it List of countries and dependencies by area, is larger than all but 16 countries. Due to its size, Queensland's geographical features and climates are diverse, and include tropical rainforests, rivers, coral reefs, mountain ranges and white sandy beaches in its Tropical climate, tropical and Humid subtropical climate, sub-tropical c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankland Islands
Frankland Group is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1353 km northwest of Brisbane. The five continental islands of the Frankland Group are High Island, Normanby Island, Mabel Island, Round Island and Russell Island, which lie about 10 km offshore, and are about 45 km south east of Cairns. They are the traditional home of the Mandingalbay Yidinji, and the Gungandji Aboriginal peoples. On 9 June 1770, on the First voyage of James Cook, Cook named the island group after Admiral Sir Thomas Frankland, 5th Baronet (1718–1784). A large number of birds are supported here, including numerous seabirds, as well as pied imperial pigeons, fruit doves, varied honeyeaters, and white-breasted woodswallows. See also * Protected areas of Queensland * Australian places named by James Cook This is a list of Australian places named by James Cook. James Cook was the first navigator to chart most of the Australian east coast, one of the last major coastlines in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babinda
Babinda is a rural town and locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. Babinda and Tully annually compete for the Golden Gumboot, an award for Australia's wettest town. Babinda is usually the winner, recording an annual average rainfall of over each year. In the , the locality of Babinda had a population of 1,287 people. Babinda is located south of Cairns and was known for historically being a “sugar town”. Geography Babinda is located south of Cairns. The town is noted for its proximity to Queensland's two highest mountains Mount Bartle Frere (Queensland's highest peak) and Mount Bellenden Ker. The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the south ( Mirriwinni), passes through the town, and exits to the north ( Bellenden Ker). The North Coast railway line also enters the locality from the south (Mirrinwinni), passes through the town, and exits to the north (Bellenden Ker). The locality was served by two railway stations: * Babinda railway station, serving ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir William Wellington Cairns, following the discovery of gold in the Hodgkinson Minerals Area, Hodgkinson River. During World War II, the city became a staging ground for the Allies of World War II, Allied Forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. By the late 20th century the city had become a centre of international tourism. In the early 21st century, it has developed into a major regional city. The economy of Cairns is based primarily on tourism, healthcare and education, along with a major capacity in aviation, marine and defence industries. The city has a Gross regional domestic product, gross regional product at about $12.2 billion as of 2024. The city is served by Cairns Airport, Cairns International Airport, the List of the busiest airpo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Sea Turtle
The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but it is also found in the Indian Ocean. The common name refers to the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, due to its diet strictly being seagrass, not to the color of its carapace, which is olive to black. The dorsoventrally flattened body of ''C. mydas'' is covered by a large, teardrop-shaped carapace; it has a pair of large, paddle-like flippers. It is usually lightly colored, although in the eastern Pacific populations, parts of the carapace can be almost black. Unlike other members of its family, such as the hawksbill sea turtle, ''C. mydas'' is mostly herbivorous. The adults usually inhabit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Bleaching
Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to loss of Symbiosis, symbiotic algae and Photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in water temperature, light, salinity, or nutrients. A bleached coral is not necessarily dead, and some corals may survive. However, a bleached coral is under stress, more vulnerable to starvation and disease, and at risk of death. The leading cause of coral bleaching is Effects of climate change on oceans, rising ocean temperatures due to climate change. Bleaching occurs when coral polyp (zoology), polyps expel the zooxanthellae (dinoflagellates commonly referred to as algae) that live inside their tissue, causing the coral to turn white. The zooxanthellae are Photosynthesis, photosynthetic, and as the water temperature rises, they begin to produce reactive oxygen species. This is Toxicity, toxic to the coral, so the coral expels the zooxanthellae. Since the zooxant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poritids
Poritidae is a family of stony corals. Members of the family are colonial hermatypic (reef-building) corals. They are variable in size and form but most are massive, laminar or ramose as well as branching and encrusting. The corallites are compact with very little coenosteum covering the skeleton. The walls of the corallites and the septa are porous. J.E.N. Veron considers the family is not a natural grouping but is a miscellaneous collection of genera that do not fit well elsewhere. Genera The World Register of Marine Species includes the following genera in the family: WetWebMedia.com. Retrieved 2011-12-18. * '' Bernardpora'' Kitano & Fukami, 2014 * '' |
Pocilloporids
The Pocilloporidae are a family of stony corals in the order Scleractinia occurring in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Description Pocilloporids are colonial and most species are reef-building. They are very variable in size and shape, some being submassive and others arborescent or ramose. The corallites are small and vary from being sunken to being raised cones. The columellae are well developed and the septa may be fused with them. The coenosteum lining the skeleton is covered with spinules. The Pocilloporidae are closely related to the other coral families, Astrocoeniidae and Acroporidae. Biology The genera in this family are polymorphic, differing in growth form according to their habitat, but showing similar growth forms in response to light availability and wave action. The colonies are hermaphrodites. The sperm is liberated into the sea and finds its way into other polyps. After internal fertilisation, the planula larvae are brooded by the parent before being ejected int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinularia
''Sinularia'' is a genus of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. They are commonly known as leather corals and currently have 166 described species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ... in the genus. Species Species include: References Encyclopedia of Life entry Alcyoniidae Octocorallia genera {{octocorallia-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown-of-thorns Starfish
The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thornlike spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the biblical crown of thorns. It is one of the largest starfish in the world. ''A. planci'' has a very wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It is perhaps most common around Australia, but can occur at tropical and subtropical latitudes from the Red Sea and the East African coast across the Indian Ocean, and across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of Central America. It occurs where coral reefs or hard coral communities occur in the region. Description The body form of the crown-of-thorns starfish is fundamentally the same as that of a typical starfish, with a central disk and radiating arms. Its special traits, however, include being disc-shaped, multiple-armed, flexible, prehensile, heavily spine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
