Heart Shaped Coral Reef

• There is a heart shaped coral reef in Australia.
• The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system (and it's largest living structure ), comprising nearly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands off the eastern coast of Australia.
• One of these thousands of reefs is Heart Reef, so named for its shape. It is located in the Whitsunday Islands and must be viewed from the air as the area is protected and snorkelers and scuba divers are not allowed to enter.
• Like other coral reefs around the world, the Great Barrier Reef, and the creatures that depend on it, is threatened by human activities such as over-fishing, pollution from river runoff and the rise of ocean temperatures linked to climate change.
• Heart Reef has been the site of many proposals and declarations of love over the years.
• Heart Reef was discovered in 1975 by one of Air Whitsunday's pilots and is now an internationally-recognised attraction of the Whitsundays and features on many postcards and brochures promoting the Whitsunday region and the Great Barrier Reef. Many an amateur photographer has been amazed by the fact that their own photos look just like the brochures!