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    "id":"oceans-barrier-reef",
    

    "smil":"http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/oceans-barrier-reef.smil",

    "title":"Great Barrier Reef",

    "transcript":"\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EFrom space, the east coast of Australia appears to be in the embrace of a giant opal.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EThe largest living structure on earth, the Great Barrier Reef is a lacy, living wall spanning more than two thousand kilometers of islands and submerged reefs, between the Queensland coast and the western edge of the Pacific Ocean.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EDiving in, the opal seems to splinter into millions of pieces, whirlpools of small metallic\u002Dblue fish, barracuda gliding like silver submarines, and occasionally, a lone, predatory shark.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EThe Great Barrier Reef is like an underwater city whose buildings are alive, with millions of small creatures whose lives are intimately – and intricately – connected.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EIt is as diverse as a rainforest, a mosaic of more than 70 types of habitats hosting thousands of species of marine life.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EAs many as 100 different kinds of coral may occupy a single acre of ocean.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EMolecule by molecule, coral animals gradually extract calcium carbonate from the surrounding water to form minute stony cups around each animal’s soft crown of tentacles.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003ESome coral live in solitary splendor, but most are built with hundreds, sometimes thousands of individual animals, linked together to form a single coral mound, plate or cluster of branches.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003ESome are like little pink trees and shrubs. They provide food and shelter for thousands of other forms of life.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003ECorals get the credit for most of the reef structure, but much of the construction is done by fast\u002Dgrowing encrusting red algae. They act like pink glue, cementing fragments of shell, sand and coral with sheets of calcium carbonate.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EThe reef is home to more than 4000 kinds of mollusks, from tiny sea slugs – nudibranchs \u002D\u002D to giant clams.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EGreen sea turtles travel thousands of miles in the open sea to reach the sandy beaches of some of the Barrier Reef’s islands, and there, to lay their eggs. Hatchings head straight for the sea. They will travel thousands of miles over the years, and eventually, return to lay their own eggs.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EEstablished as a national park in 1975, the Great Barrier Reef was designated as a World Heritage Site six years later. Today 33 per cent of it is fully protected, and efforts are underway to deal with pollution, over\u002Dfishing, and the consequences of climate change.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp class\u003D\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EThe Great Barrier Reef appears to be about 20,000 years old, but geologists using deep coring techniques have found evidence of  ancient corals there that are half a million years old. With care, the future of Australia’s living treasure will be at least as enduring as its magnificent past.\u003C/p\u003E",

    "description":"\u003Cp\u003EThe largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef spans more than 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) of islands and submerged reefs. A plethora of coral thrives here, along with a sweep of parrotfish, surgeonfish, barracuda, and sharks.\u003C/p\u003E",
    
    
    "credit":"National Geographic",
    
    

    
    
    
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    "url":"http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/parks-and-nature-places/oceans/oceans-barrier-reef/",

    "related":
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                {
                 "name":"See Coral Photos",
                 "url":"http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/coral\u002Dreefs.html"
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                ,{
                 "name":"Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas",
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