Out of Sight

Habitat According to Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University, the owl butterfly's habitat is primarily dense rainforest areas of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to the Amazon Basin. They are often found near banana plantations, as owl butterfly larvae have hearty appetites for banana plant leaves (as well as heliconia). They are considered pests in banana-producing countries. Adults have strong probosces (mouths that are long, coiled straw-like tubes) for piercing fruit skins and feed mainly on rotting fruit, such as bananas, pineapples and mangoes.

Two-thirds of the coral loss has occurred since 1998 and the rate of decline has increased in recent years, averaging around 1.45% a year since 2006. "If the trend continued, coral cover could halve again by 2022," said Peter Doherty, a research fellow at the institute.Tropical cyclones, predation by Cots, and bleaching accounted for 48%, 42%,and 10% of the respective estimated losses. In the past seven years the reef has been affected by six major cyclones. Cyclone Hamish, for example, ran along the reef, parallel to the coast for almost 930 miles (1,500km), leaving a trail of destruction much greater than the average cyclone, which usually crosses the reef on a path perpendicular to the coast.The starfish problem was first recorded in 1962 at Green Island off Cairns. "When we say outbreaks, we mean explosions of Cots populations to a level where the numbers are so large that they end up eating upwards of 90% of a reef's coral," Gunn said. "Since 1962 there have been major outbreaks every 13-14 years."

Corals are actually tiny, soft-bodied animals that belong to the same group as jellyfish and sea anemones, the Cnidarians. An individual coral animal is called a polyp. Coral polyps can live alone, but typically polyps live in colonies that may consist of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of individuals. Corals are split into two main groups: soft corals and hard corals. Hard corals, also known as reef building corals, are the best-known type of coral, forming the large, colourful reefs found in clear, tropical seas. There are over 800 known species of reef-building coral.

Known for their distinctive shape and often strikingly colourful markings, Angelfish are one of the more numerous species of fish in the Great Barrier Reef, with over 80 different species in the family in total. Typical characteristics of the Angelfish include their beauty, inquisitive nature, and tendency to be found in all levels of the upper reef, from the surface to the base of the area’s coral formations. Patterns which can be found on Angelfish range from thin, vivid stripes to multi-coloured speckled patterns that make no two fish of the families look exactly alike, and they form

Corals are colonies of made up of tiny animals called polyps. Hard corals have polyps with 6 tentacles, or multiples of 6 tentacles. Soft coral polyps have 8 tentacles. The oldest coral on the Great Barrier Reef would be a Porites sp. and is probably about 1,000 years old. Old colonies of this species are the size of a small room. These corals grow at about 1 cm in height per year and their skeleton reflects the weather conditions at the time of the growth. Hence large corals which are hundreds of years old can provide information about water temperature and rainfall patterns that pre-date European settlement. Tiny algae called zooxanthellae live in the flesh of most corals. The algae photosynthesise and transfer energy to the coral. Therefore, coral reefs (which are built mostly by these corals) are generally confined to shallow waters because like other plants, the algae require light to survive.

Mating season for wild snow leopards is between January and mid-March. During this time, a male and a female will travel together for a few days and copulate. The cats will then part ways and become solitary once again, with the female taking full responsibility of raising any offspring.

The female is typically pregnant for 93-110 days before her litter is born in June or July.

In captivity, snow leopards have been known to live for as long as 22 years.

It is difficult to work out the age of the Great Barrier Reef. This is because of the way a reef can grow and shrink as the sea level changes. A coral reef can grow in diameter, that is how wide they are, from 1 to 2 cm per year. They can also grow upwards from 1 to 15 cm per year. Coral can not grow if the water is too deep (150 metres or more) because it needs light from the sun. They cannot grow out of the water (above sea level).[5]

n not grow if the water is too deep (150 metres or more) because it needs light from the sun. They cannot grow out of the water (above sea leve

Coral reefs are fragile ecosystems. Because corals need warm, sunlit water to live, they often grow close to the top of the water. Sadly, being so close to land makes them often be damaged by poisons and dirt that can come from boats and the land nearby. Dirt makes the water more cloudy, which makes the sunlight less. Poisons can bleach and kill corals. Also, they are hard for ships to see, but easy to hit, which makes ships often run into the coral, damaging both the boats and coral. Because of this, many countries are trying to lessen the kinds of building that usually happen near beaches that have coral reefs nearby, and be more careful about the boats that go around reefs.[4]

Forms of life include at least 300 species of hard coral as well as anemones, sponges, worms, gastropods, lobsters, crayfish, prawns, crabs, and a great variety of fishes and birds. The most destructive reef animal is the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), which has reduced the colour and attraction of many of the central reefs by eating much of the living coral. Encrusting red algae Lithothamnion and Porolithon form the fortifying purplish red algal rim that is one of the Great Barrier Reef’s most characteristic features, while the green alga Halimeda flourishes almost everywhere. Above the surface, the plant life of the cays is very restricted, consisting of only some 30 to 40 species. Some varieties of mangrove occur in the northern cays.