The most unusual lakes in the world (10 photos). The most amazing lakes on the planet Rare lake
What else is concealed in our mysterious and beautiful nature? How many interesting reservoirs, birds and animals there are on our Earth. And I would like to tell you about 4 of the most unusual lakes on Earth. Who would have thought that there would be an asphalt lake on our native Earth? And it turns out there is even such a thing.
Asphalt lake
Trinidat Island became famous only because in its central part there is a real asphalt lake. Great asphalt! Of course, you cannot enter the lake and plunge into the lake, but it is located in the crater of a former mud volcano, its depth is ... 90 meters (!), And its area is 46 hectares. Oil escaping from the bowels of the earth through the mouth of the volcano, lying at great depths, under the influence of evaporation, loses all volatile substances and turns into asphalt. All this is happening in the center of the lake basin. The place where more and more layers of liquid asphalt appear is called "Mother Lake". It is thanks to him that Lake Trinidad retains its reserves, despite the fact that every year up to 150 thousand tons of asphalt is mined from it, which is used for construction needs. Most of it is exported to the USA, England and China. During the development of the lake, more than 5 million tons of asphalt were mined, while the level of the wonder lake dropped by only half a meter! Any object hitting the surface of the lake disappears into the black abyss. Scientists who explored the coastal depths of the "reservoir" have discovered a whole cemetery of prehistoric animals. Including skeletons of mastodons, extinct during the Ice Age, who lived in this region. There are also deposits of valuable resin in the Dead Sea, famous for its salt reserves. The whole world knows about the extreme salinity of its water, in which it is impossible to drown. However, only specialists know about the deposits of the rarest resin. The extraction of this unique substance from the waters of the Dead Sea has been carried out since ancient times. Resin is used in a wide variety of areas: medicine, for road construction, coating of ship hulls, in the chemical industry.
Ink lake
Such an unusual lake is located in Algeria, near the city of Sidi Bel Abbess. The lake is filled with ink. There are no fish or plants in the lake, since the poisonous dark blue ink is only suitable for writing with them! Until recently, people could not understand how such an unusual substance turned out to be in the reservoir. Scientists, after conducting relevant studies and analyzes, came to the conclusion: it's all about the composition of the water of two small rivers flowing into this mysterious lake... One of them contains just a huge amount of dissolved iron salts, the other contains all kinds of organic compounds from peat bogs located in the river valley. Merging together into a lake pit, the streams interact with each other, replenishing the amount of wonderful ink. Local residents treat this miracle differently: some consider it a devilish obsession; others, on the contrary, benefit from it. The ink is sold not only in stores in Algeria, but also in Africa, the Mediterranean countries, the Middle East.
Empty lake
But the secret of the Russian Empty Lake, located in Altai, has not yet been revealed. Around all the reservoirs are teeming with fish and lake game, and in Pustovoe there are no blades of grass, no fry, no birds on the shore, and this despite the fact that rivers flowing from the fish lakes flow into Pustovoe. Researchers have tried dozens of times to populate mysterious lake local aquatic fauna and flora, giving preference to the most unpretentious species. However, all experiments ended in the same way: the fish and other animals, after a day or two, died, the vegetation rotted. Empty remained empty. But what is most surprising is that chemists, who have repeatedly analyzed water for the content of toxic substances, have proved that water is absolutely not poisonous, suitable for consumption, and even ... resembles champagne due to the smallest bubbles of harmless natural gas. The lake water was studied by experts from Germany, USA, Belgium and Britain, and no one has yet been able to explain or at least offer a plausible hypothesis about the phenomenon of this amazing reservoir. Will this mystery be solved in the foreseeable future? Alas, experts shrug their shoulders vaguely.
Acid lake
Yet the most "dead" sea on planet Earth is considered the ill-fated Lake of Death - a large body of water located in Sicily. Its shores and waters are devoid of all vegetation and living creatures, even birds do not fly over the lead-gray water. Swimming in it is deadly. Any living creature caught in the water of this terrible lake instantly dies. A person who for a second lowers a hand in the water watches in horror as it turns red, blisters, the skin slides off, revealing bloody bones, bursting veins and blood vessels. And the fact is that the water contains in a huge concentration ... sulfuric acid. Very dangerous studies carried out by scientists in 1999 led to a stunning conclusion: concentrated sulfuric acid is thrown into the lake by two sources located at its bottom. It is not surprising that the Sicilian mafia has hidden its victims in these deadly waters from time immemorial: an hour - and not even teeth remain from a person.
Imagine that you are wading through the island through extensive forest thickets and find yourself on the shore of a lake with bright pink water. Or that you are sailing on a boat in the middle of a sea of lotuses that stretch as far as your eyes can see, and beyond. It sounds like something fabulous, but in fact, these scenes are very real if you decide to visit the most unusual lakes on the planet.
Since lakes are full-fledged ecosystems, they are sometimes capable of taking on such unexpected forms and types that even the most sophisticated imagination cannot imagine. Like, for example, Lake Kliluk in Canada, which every summer turns from an ordinary mountain reservoir into a whole field, dotted with bizarre spots.
Lake Medusa, Palau
Jellyfish can be a nuisance for vacationers on ocean beaches, but snorkeling with them in Lake Jellyfish in the Pacific Rocky Islands archipelago is an incredible pleasure. Golden jellyfish are luminous spheres that can be the size of a coin or a soccer ball. This is the only jellyfish species whose ability to sting has disappeared in the course of evolution.
Lake Nong Han, Thailand
Every year, thousands and thousands of red lotuses bloom here, which transform the surface of Thailand's Nong Han Lake into a giant field of floating flowers. This water garden begins to bloom in October just after the rainy season, and blooms peak in December when locals go by boat to enjoy the beauty. It is best to contemplate the blooming lake before noon, when the lotuses open up to their maximum.
Pitch Lake, Trinidad
Some lakes are very viscous, but certainly not more than that. Composed of approximately 10 million tons of liquid asphalt and an area of 100 acres, Pitch Lake near La Brea, Trinidad is the largest natural asphalt deposit on the planet. This viscous mixture of water, natural gas, bitumen and minerals has been the world's main source of asphalt since 1595.
Boiling Lake, Dominican Republic
In the center of this 70-meter lake, the water is constantly in a boiling state, which greatly complicates the correct measurements of its temperature, but it ranges from 82 to 92 degrees. Scientists believe that this steam-covered pit is actually either a fumarole (a crack and hole in the crater and at the base of the volcano that serves as a source of hot gases), or something like a vent that leads straight to volcanic magma.
Manicouagan, Canada
If you can't decide what exactly you want to visit - a river or a lake - go to Lake Manicouagan in the Canadian province of Quebec. This only ring-shaped lake appeared about 200 million years ago when a giant asteroid 5 kilometers in diameter fell to Earth. The result of its fall was this ring-shaped lake or, as it is also called, a concentric river.
Laguna Colorado, Bolivia
The landscapes on this lake are so unusual that Salvador Dali himself could envy them. The water in the lake gets its burgundy color due to plankton, red algae and other microorganisms living in it, which serve as food for another local attraction - James' flamingo, whose presence makes this place something in between Mars and the Caribbean Islands.
Erebus, Antarctica
Admiring this lake will no longer be an easy task, because the ambient temperature can reach -60 degrees. Inside this one of five lava lakes on the planet, the temperature is around 1700 degrees. Erebus is distinguished from the other four analogs only by its location on the continent, which, frankly, is not characterized by too high temperatures. In general, Erebus is the second largest volcano in Antarctica, which has been constantly erupting since 1972.
Lake Hillier, Australia
No, this is not a reservoir of the world's stocks of strawberry milkshake or gum, this is just a lake of perfect rose water. And before you is not an optical illusion and not a light effect, the water in this 600-meter lake retains its color both day and night. The exact cause of this phenomenon has not yet been established, but the main version names bacteria and microorganisms that live in salt deposits as sources of the unusual color.
Lake Superior, USA
Lakes can sometimes be as majestic as the oceans. Take, for example, the Great Lakes in the United States and Canada, whose giant waves - real paradise for surfers from several states at once. The farther north the lake is, the higher the waves reach. On the Upper Lake, powerful winds can raise even 10-meter waves, however, the average wave height on the northernmost of the Great Lakes is about 1-2 meters.
Lake Medicine, Canada
A national park in the Canadian province of Alberta overlooks a lake so mysterious that most likely you will not find it, because every winter the water in it simply disappears. But it's not about evaporation at all. Lake Medicine is more like a giant bath, 6 kilometers long and 30 meters deep, which fills in the summer when glaciers melting in the mountains fall into the Maligne River. The river has several peculiar funnels - in Lake Medicine there is just one of them - which divert the river flows into a system of underground caves, and then the river again comes to the surface in the Maligne canyon. Despite the huge volumes of water from the glaciers, the entire absorption process takes only a few weeks. The mystery of Lake Medicine was only unraveled in the 1970s.
Lake Natron, Tanzania
This lake does an excellent job of conserving wildlife, but only in a not quite familiar sense of the phrase. Natron literally turns animals and birds into stones, as if they looked into the eyes of Medusa Gargona. Perfectly fossilized birds (even pigeons) and bats are constantly washed ashore on the lake. This ominous lake owes its calcification capacity to toxic ash and ash emitted from the surrounding volcanoes. No one can say for sure how birds and animals die, but it looks like the lake's perfectly reflective surface is causing them to make a fatal dive.
Lake Mackenzie, Australia
You can hardly find a more ideal body of water than Lake Mackenzie on Earth. The white sand along its shores is 100% silicon, which is used in many perfumery products and has a positive effect on the condition of hair, skin and nails. The only source of perfectly clean and clear water in the lake is rain, whose acidity is incompatible with any living organism except your relaxing body.
Lake Pavilion, Canada
This lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia can take you hundreds of millions of years ago. From the outside, it is no different from thousands of other mountain reservoirs, but its bottom is covered with an ancient species of freshwater coral, which reproduce one of the first life samples that appeared on our planet more than 2.5 billion years ago.
Lake Nyos, Cameroon
In 1986 it crater lake in Cameroon caused one of the most unusual natural disasters, literally exploding. A huge mass of water rose up 100 meters, which led to a tsunami that covered the coast of the lake, after which a cloud of carbon dioxide covered the entire area, claiming 1,746 human lives in just three days. Today, it is quite safe to be near this lake - after the disaster, scientists have developed a system that removes carbon dioxide from the bottom.
Dead Sea, Israel / Jordan
This sea is 10% saltier than any other sea on the planet - 35% versus 3.5%. Thanks to this concentration of salt, you always remain on the surface, and your skin and joints receive an excellent healing effect. The water level in the Dead Sea is 427 meters below sea level and falls at a rate of about 1 meter per year - this is the lowest place on the planet.
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There are many places on earth that are breathtaking: they inspire, they fascinate, and every time you are convinced that there is no better artist than nature itself.
site chose 10 picturesque and amazing lakes to once again enjoy the beauty of our planet.
Moiraine, Canada
Moraine is a glacial lake in Canada's Banff National Park. The lake is fed by glaciers, so its maximum filling occurs only in June. The amazing blue color of the water is created by the refraction of light on the rocky bottom of the lake. Being one of the most photographed subjects in Canada, Moiraine is truly a paradise.
Crater, USA
Crater Lake is located in the crater of the dormant Mount Mazama volcano, the last eruption of which occurred more than 7 thousand years ago. The main attraction of the lake is the Ghost Ship, an island named so by its appearance. At dusk, it resembles a ship thrown into the sea to the mercy of fate. The crater is also famous for a huge log called the "Old Man of the Lake", which has been floating in an upright position in the lake for over 100 years. They say that the one who sees it promises great luck.
Abraham, Canada
Abraham is a man-made lake created during the construction of a dam in the 70s of the last century. Tourists and photographers are especially attracted by the unusual patterns that appear in the water column in winter. The secret of the miracle is this: the methane bubbles produced by the plants of the lake rise from the bottom, freeze at different depths, thereby creating a stunning visual effect.
Hillier, Australia
Middle Island in Western Australia is home to the pink-colored Hillier Lake. A narrow strip of sand dunes separates it from the ocean, and evergreen eucalyptus trees surround it on all sides, enclosing an irregular ring. Until now, the origin of the pink water of this lake remains a mystery. While scientists are puzzling over the riddle, tourists from all over the planet admire this amazing natural object.
Melissani, Greece
Melissani is the name of a cave and lake located on the east coast of the Greek island of Kefalonia. The vault of the cave collapsed as a result of an earthquake several thousand years ago, forming a kind of uneven well in the center. So the light penetrated into the underworld of the cave. And now the rays of the sun make their way through the hole and, in refraction, paint the surface of the water in azure shades. A romantic place that tourists love very much.
Peyto, Canada
Another stunning lake in Banff National Park is called Peyto, after its discoverer. The reservoir has an unusual shape, reminiscent of a wolf's head, and a "tropical color" that stands out against the background of green vegetation. Particles of rocks, falling along with melt water, give the lake a unique turquoise hue, and this makes Peyto look just magical.
Lake of Five Colors, China
In chinese national park"Jiuzhaigou", which translates as "valley of nine villages", is replete with rainbow colors Lake of five colors. The lake got its name because of its peculiarity to change color from yellow to diamond blue. Plus, it never freezes. Shrouded in riddles and secrets, it causes awe among the local population, hence such a careful attitude to the reservoir.
Titicaca, border of Peru and Bolivia
Lake Titicaca is considered the cradle of the civilization of the Incas and other peoples of the Andes. It lies in a huge depression on the border of Peru and Bolivia and is the largest of the alpine lakes in the world. Titicaca has long attracted attention due to the huge number of legends. One of the most famous is about the Inca gold hidden from the Spanish conquistadors. Fans of adventure and treasure hunting will definitely like this place.
Lakes on our planet.
1. Lake jellyfish in Palau
In the heart of the Pacific Ocean, the island of Palau in Micronesia is home to one of the world's most stunning lakes. It was once connected to the ocean, and now it is home to almost eight million jellyfish, which are not dangerous to humans.
2. Lake Resia
In 1950, the small town of Graun in northern Italy was submerged by floods, after which the two lakes merged into one. Since then, Lake Rezia has completely covered former town; and only the bell tower is visible on its surface.
3. Lake Superior: a surfer's paradise
Canadian Lake Superior is so huge that it is called a lake disguised as an ocean. This place is especially loved and appreciated by surfers.
4. Boiling Lake, Dominica
The second largest boiling lake in the world is located on Caribbean island Dominica. Its water can reach boiling point due to carbon dioxide and sulfuric gases rising from the bottom of the large crater.
5. Lake Man-Sagar
This is an artificial lake in Jaipur, the Indian state of Rajasthan, in the middle of which there is an amazing Jal Mahal palace, but the entrance is closed for tourists and visitors.
6. Spotted lake
The lake is located in British Columbia, in western Canada, and is famous for its blue-green spotting - hence the name. The indigenous peoples consider the lake to be sacred.
7. Lake Erta-Ale-Lava
One of the strangest lakes in the world at the top of the Ethiopian Erta Ale volcano. It is truly a lake made of real lava itself, and it overflows regularly.
8. Lake Peach
It is located in the state of Trinidad and Tobago and is one of the largest natural lakes made from liquid asphalt, which is mined from there for road construction.
9. Laguna Colorado
Located in Bolivia along the Chilean border, Laguna Colorada is a blood-red salt lake. Its unusual color is caused by sediments and pigments from microorganisms living in the lake.
10. Lake Don Juan
It is a small body of water in the Wright Valley, Antarctica that never freezes despite the cold temperatures in the region. What is the reason? Very high salinity. Don Juan is 18 times saltier than the ocean and twice as salty as the Dead Sea.
11. Lake Balkhash
Balkhash is the largest lake in Kazakhstan. Its waters are divided into two parts by a strait, on the west side with fresh water, and on the east - with salt water.
12. Kelimutu lakes
There are three lakes at the summit of the Kelimutu volcano on Flores Island in Indonesia. They are all in the same crater, but each lake has a different color, and these colors change periodically: they can be blue, green, yellow or black. And this is still a mystery for science!
13. Lake Nong Khan
This lake in northern Thailand has its own special and unique charm - from October to March, thousands of pink lotus flowers bloom on it, creating a solid floral cover. The effect is amazing!
14. Dead Sea
In fact, the Dead Sea is not a sea, but a salty lake located between Israel and Jordan and with increased salinity. It is especially popular with people who love thermal spa treatments.
15. Lake Manicouagan
The lake is also called the "Eye of Quebec" because of its clear circular shape. It was once a crater formed by an asteroid impact. When a dam was erected on the Manicouagan River, the crater was flooded and became one of the largest reservoirs in the world.
As you know, 71 percent of our Earth's surface is covered with water. From space, our beloved planet looks like a blue ball, because bodies of water reflect the sun's rays in the blue spectrum.
Photos from NASA spacecraft show us a magnificent view of the marble-blue Earth from space. In our world there are many beautiful rivers, lakes, impressive waterfalls, stunning glaciers and clear bodies of water surrounded by snowy mountains. Fortunately, all these magnificent creations of nature can be seen by each of us.
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10Suez Canal, Egypt
160 kilometers long, 300 meters wide - this is the size of this artificial waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. The Suez Canal is considered the shortest route between Europe and Asia. This makes transporting goods and trade much easier by shortening difficult routes around Africa. Today, the Suez Canal is one of the busiest waterways in the world, with far fewer accidents than other similar structures.
The construction of the Suez Canal took a total of 10 years. Starting in 1859, ships from all countries could already pass through the Suez Canal, carrying cargo along the Europe-Asia route. An advanced Suez Canal radar control system monitors every ship passing here. In emergency situations, this system allows the rescue services to react immediately, thereby reducing the risks to ships passing through the channel.
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9Bora Bora, France
Bora Bora is one of the most beautiful places in the world intended for international tourism. This group of islands is a territorial part of France and is located in Pacific... Bora Bora is home to white sandy beaches, blue lagoons and glamorous resorts that are popular with vacationers.
Currently, it is tourism that supports the entire economy of the island. Glazed comfortable villas turn this place into a tourist paradise. Scuba diving and diving in crystal clear waters attract thousands of people who want to enjoy the beauty of the water element and relax on the sunny beaches of Bora Bora.
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8Lake Baikal, Siberia
Lake Baikal is the oldest and most deep lake in the world. It is located in Southeast Siberia. The lake has a depth of 1700 m, and was formed 25 million years ago from a real prehistoric sea. 20 percent of the total volume of fresh water in the world is contained in Baikal. There are government-protected scenic reserves around the lake. Clean and beautiful Baikal is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
In the Baikal region, there are many cultural, archaeological and historical values. The area around the lake is home to 1,340 animal species. Many of them are unique and are found only in the Baikal region. Ancient mountains, mighty taiga and small islands make the Baikal region one of the most biologically diverse places in the world.
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7Great Blue Hole, Belize
It is a large natural underwater sinkhole located 70 kilometers above sea level in the middle of a barrier reef in Belize. Its huge crater is 120 meters deep and 300 meters in diameter. It was formed during the Ice Age, 150,000 years ago, before the glaciers completely disappeared. The gradual melting of ice and the rise in sea level just caused the formation of this miracle of nature.
The Great Blue Hole became a World Heritage Site in 1997. More than 500 rare forms of animals and plants live here. Every year this natural sinkhole attracts many tourists from all over the world who come here, mainly for scuba diving.
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Venice is a group of 117 small islands separated by canals and connected by bridges. The canals divide the city into 117 small, cozy islands. It is these waterways that from time immemorial have been used as the main transport network in Venice. The Grand Canal, the city's main waterway, is the largest canal in Venice, 3.8 km long and 60 to 90 meters wide.
The Grand Canal Tour is the best way to explore Venice while gaining in-depth knowledge of the city's historical importance. For larger tours of Venice, gondolas, traditional punt boats, and more modern motor boats are mainly used. You can see up close all the beauty of historical buildings, palaces, churches and see the famous century-old Rialto Bridge.
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5Dead Sea Jordan
The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, located on the border between Israel and Jordan. The salinity of the Dead Sea ranges on average between 34-35 percent. This is almost ten times more than that of ordinary salty sea water. The increased salt content in the water is the reason for the complete absence of aquatic flora and fauna, which is why this lake is called the "Dead Sea". The lake is located 423 meters below sea level, and is the lowest place on land.
Such a high concentration of salt allows tourists to swim effortlessly in the Dead Sea, almost without moving their limbs. This water benefits human health as it is high in beneficial minerals such as potassium, calcium, sulfur and bromine. The Dead Sea can cure a variety of skin conditions and help you get rid of toxins. It is said that the minerals of the Dead Sea were transported in ancient times to Egypt, where they were used to mummify the Egyptian pharaohs.
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The Nile is the longest river in our world, with an approximate length of 6,650 kilometers. It begins in Burundi and passes through Kenya, Eritra, Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, where it meets the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile played a very important role in the life of the ancient Egyptians.
The river was the main source of food, water and a waterway for transporting goods between countries. At the same time, when the Nile overflowed its banks as a result of seasonal rains, all the lands of Egypt were flooded with water for a long time. This helped the ancient Egyptians to easily grow the seeds of cultivated plants.
All the historical monuments of Egypt, including the pyramids, are located near the banks of the Nile. The Nile Delta covers an area up to 160 kilometers wide and as many as 40 million people live around, using the waters of the sacred river.
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3Niagara Falls, United States of America
Niagara Falls is located on the border between Canada and the United States. Niagara is made up of three falls, American Stream, Bridlevale and Horseshoe. These three falls together create a water flow of 85,000 feet per second. This is the highest water flow in the world. Horseshoe is the largest of the three waterfalls in Niagara and most of it is closer to Canada. American Stream and Bridlevale are located in the United States.
Niagara was formed 10,000 years ago during the Wisconsin Ice Age. The brilliant green color of Niagara Falls water is due to the mixing of salt and rock with water at high speed. The maelstrom created Niagara Falls has an area of 1.2 kilometers. Its depth is the same as the height of Niagara, and is 52 meters. Water from Niagara flows into Lake Ontario in the Canadian province.
Amazing Niagara Falls video:
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2Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe
Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world and is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It is located on the Zambezi River between the states of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is more than a mile wide and has a drop of five hundred million cubic meters per minute. The water falls to a depth of 93 meters and is strongly sprayed, breaking against the rocks. Because of this water cloud, Victoria Falls is visible at a distance of 50 kilometers with the naked eye.
Heavy spraying of water causes constant rainfall in the forests surrounding the falls. Surprisingly, you can swim at the edge of the waterfall without much risk. The natural stone rim will not allow you to fall down with the water. This pool is known as the "Devil's Font". During the full moon, Victoria Falls experiences one of the most magnificent natural phenomena known as the Moonlight Rainbow. A beautiful rainbow is visible at this time over the waterfall, in the bright light of the moon refracted by water splashes.
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1Great Barrier Reef, Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It is connected together by 900 islands with a length of over 2,300 kilometers. The reef is large enough to be seen from space and is recognized as the national symbol of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef contains over 3,000 individual reefs created by microorganisms over millions of years. It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981.
The Great Barrier Reef gives life to a huge variety of marine life. There are about 1,500 species of fish, 3,000 species of molluscs, 500 species of worms, 133 species of sharks and rays, and 30 species of whales and dolphins. The tourism sector is very developed here. Glass bottom boat tours, exciting scuba diving and kayaking are popular with vacationers. The Great Barrier Reef attracts about 2 million visitors every year.
