Page 129 - It Can't Be True! Animals! - Unbelievable Facts About Amazing Animals (DK)

HOMES AND HIDEAWAYS 129

CORAL BLEACHING
The area
of the Great
Barrier Reef
is about the
same size
as Italy.

The reef makes a barrier
between the Australian The water in the Great Barrier Reef is warming
coastline and the Coral due to the effects of climate change. As a result,
Sea, hence its name. algae that grows in the coral is expelled, turning
the coral white – a process known as bleaching.
As coral depends on algae for food, it dies without it.

I TA LY

The giant clam
weighs up to
225 kg (500 lb)
and can live for
around 100 years.
It consumes
food produced
by billions of
algae that live
in its tissue.

What’s the biggest

living thing?

Threadfin butterfly fish travel
around the reef in pairs, feeding
on hard and soft corals, as well
as worms and sponges.

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