| Whitsunday Island is one of the 74 islands of the Whitsunday Island group off the east coast of Australia. The island owes its name to Whit Sunday 1777, the day Captain Cook reached the archipelago. Today it is uninhabited, but Aborigines appear to have lived there from the beginning of the Neolithic period, when sea level was lower and the island was still part of the mainland. White Haven Beach, fringed with mangroves, has sand of a rare quality: at 98 percent silica, it is said to be the purest in the world. The few swimmers who visit (tourism is strictly controlled) rub shoulders with manta rays, saltwater crocodiles, turtles, and schools of dolphin. The islands are part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which stretches for 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) along the Australian coast. About 20 percent of the reef’s coral has been damaged by growing numbers of a species of starfish, a fierce predator. In fact, almost all the world’s coral is in poor health, which is gradually leading to a loss of biodiversity in the surrounding waters - a process similar to desertification on land. |
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