Oil Spill on the Great Barrier Reef...

This was shocking news. The beautiful Great Barrier Reef, our Australian jewel was wrecked. The oil spill that occurred was just another example of what we do to the environment.

How did it start? They wanted to take a shortcut, and had run over some reefs. This ripped the bottom of the ship, letting oil leak out. The Chinese carrier, Shen Neng 1 leaked out litres and litres of oil, destroying the homes of 500,000 sea birds and an important turtle nesting colony. How did this happen? Well, the captain and crew decided they wanted to take a short cut. Not on! Just imagine all this oil, flowing into the water, wrecking coral reefs and sea life.

My dad works on a ship that sails along the Great Barrier Reef called the Endeavor River. The pictures he's taken are amazing. Now just imagine in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef is a big blotch of murky brown oil. It's amazing what we humans can do. We can also save the wildlife, which is what the rescue team did.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chief scientist said that the ship "gouged" a channel of about 3km long and 250m wide in the reef, off Rockhampton. He said it was the worst oil spill he has seen on the Great Barrier Reef.