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A noted marine explorer named Jacques-Yves Cousteau wrote: “It is all strange, unearthly, and yet familiar. Strange because the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever.

Palau

The warm waters of Palau, a small archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, hold perhaps the richest and most biologically diverse coral reefs on the planet. In this “cradle of diversity,” marine biologists have recorded 700 species of corals and 1,500 species of fish.

Palau’s coral reefs began to grow millions of years ago when coral polyps colonized submerged volcanic mountains. The tiny polyps produced a material that cemented them in place. Side by side, they built hard, external skeletons around their soft bodies, and when they died, other corals built skeletons on top of them. Geologic forces eventually raised the coral topped mountains above the sea, and all the exposed corals died. In time, new colonies built more reefs on the islands undersea slopes.

Belize Barrier Reef

The coral barrier reef of Belize starts 300 meters off shore of Belize and stretches up to 40 km south like a mountain range; its total length is about 300 km (185 miles). For Belize; this coral formations remain as the hub of its tourism industry in fact it is the revenue from tourism that keeps Belize economy ticking

The Galapagos Islands

 Galapagos Islands are an isolated cluster of 19 volcanic islands of varying sizes in the Pacific Ocean located around the equator. It is a territory of Ecuador and located about 600 miles off from it. Galapagos Archipelago (a scattered group of islands cut off from mainland) is well known for its bio diversity and Charles Darwin; the renowned scientist stayed there to do his researches on biological evolution.

Northern Red Sea

Surrounded by one of the world’s largest expanses of sand, the Red Sea laps the shores of an ecosystem seemingly devoid of life. For that reason, many people find it difficult to imagine that some of the earth’s richest coral reefs rise from the floor of the sea’s northern reaches..

 Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is known as the Galapagos of Russia as both share a history of spending many years in isolation from external world for very long period; if it was ocean that isolated Galapagos, it was the hostile permafrost of Siberia that cut Baikal from outside world. The flora and fauna of both lands had to evolve independently being cut off from mainstream animals and plants.

Great Barrier Reef

The Oceania has much geographical exclusivities for its credit; but Great Barrier Reef that spans 2000 kms near Australia is the most prominent among them. It is the largest coral reef in the world. This rare natural wonder comprises of about 900 islands and more than 3000 coral platforms all formed by millions of years of biological activity has been approved as the icon of Queen’s Land

Deep Sea Vents

Deep Sea vents or deep sea hydrothermal vents are geysers that form along with mid ocean ridges. These are just cracks in the ocean bottom in to which ocean water gushes in to be ejected out along with various minerals available with the magma. These vents are places where the magma of the earth’s core gets some exit points

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