Day 58: Cruising The Coral Sea


We spent today cruising through the Coral Sea on our way to Townsville, where we arrive at 11am tomorrow. The technical definition is that it is a marginal South Pacific sea off Australia's northeast coast. The layman's definition is that it's where the Great Barrier Reef hangs out and covers the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

It is a large sea and extends over 1200 miles (2000 km) down the northeastern coast. Most of it and the corresponding coastline are part of the Australian Coral Sea Marine Park, although it does include the two major cities of Cairns and Brisbane. Geologically, the sea was formed around 50 million years ago as part of the Coral Sea Basin, when Zealandia split off from Australia (see New Zealand blog entries), and water poured into the resultant gap. The area still has some light seismic activity, with about 1-2 quakes a year along the Queensland Coast, but nothing dramatic.


The sea received its name because of (surprise) the numerous coral formations. That includes the GBR, as mentioned earlier, containing 2,900 individual reefs and 1000 islands - plus innumerable atolls. Water temperatures are a steady 80F/27C in the north of the sea and vary from 66 to 75 in the south. Allison and I can personally attest that you need a wetsuit if you snorkel the GBR, as much for staying warm and safe from wandering jellyfish!

One final historical fact (that I never knew) is that in May 1942, there was a major sea battle in the Coral Sea. Allies and Japanese naval units duked it out to prevent the Japanese invasion of Port Moresby.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 4, 2024 at 10:23 PM

    I first visited Oz in 1989. SYD, Melbourne, Taz... There were many who remembered The Battle of The Coral Sea and the USA contribution to the win very very warmly. I was made to feel very very welcome! - Chris Daly

    ReplyDelete
  2. JohnMarch 6, 2024 at 7:40 AM

    There are many monuments and cenotaphs in Northern Australia about that battle and the potential Japanese invasion of cities like Darwin. A part of history I never knew about.

    ReplyDelete

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