A Great view from above Jun 11, 2018

A Great view from above

At 132,974 square miles, the Great Barrier Reef is about half the size of Texas, a statistic that becomes even more amazing when you learn the reef was created by teeny, tiny marine invertebrates. Coral reefs are formed when colonies of coral polyps secrete hard exoskeletons made of calcium carbonate, slowly building an underwater home that supports marine life of all shapes and sizes. That’s a feat worth protecting.

© Dick Sweeney/Gallery Stock

palette

Today in History

Jun 11, 2019Installation art turns heads
Jun 11, 2020A midsummer twilight s dream
Jun 11, 2021An island in the Highlands
Jun 11, 2022Misool Island, Indonesia
Jun 11, 2023Goliath heron in Kruger National Park, South Africa
Jun 11, 2024Southern gemsbok in the savannah, Botswana
Jun 11, 2025Greater flamingos, Lüderitz, Namibia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Feb 28, 2025Tibetan New Year
May 8, 2020Victory in Europe, 75 years ago
Apr 16, 2020Bridges to the past
Jun 30, 2021An impactful day
Sep 30, 2018Aw shucks, it’s oyster season in Galway
Dec 6, 2024Finnish Independence Day
Jun 25, 2019Sutherland Falls in Fiordland National Park
Nov 27, 2018The fantastic winter fox
Apr 26, 2018National Park Week: Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Apr 23, 2020Duck, duck. duck, duck, duck...
Jan 8, 2020Take the stairs
Oct 12, 2023Farmers Day
May 11, 2020A tree amid the Tetons
Mar 4, 2020A different kind of dive
Jan 18, 2018Entoloma hochstetteri mushroom at Lake Mahinapua, New Zealand
Jul 6, 2019Racers pushing past sunflowers in the 2018 Tour de France
Dec 29, 2022Silver-studded blue butterflies
Oct 16, 2025A Eurasian lynx in Siberia
Mar 10, 2023Vale of Edale, Peak District, England
Feb 17, 2025Presidents Day
May 26, 2025Memorial Day
Feb 20, 2018Buddha in the roots of a tree, Ayutthaya, Thailand
Apr 26, 2021Cheese! We ll go somewhere where there s cheese!
Jul 3, 2023The dog days of summer
Mar 23, 2022World Meteorological Day
Nov 28, 2019Wild turkeys in repose
Oct 3, 2025Glen Brittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Sep 13, 2022Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Aug 11, 2025Village of Santa Maddalena, Dolomites, Italy
Sep 17, 2019Constitution Day and Citizenship Day