The turquoise ocean hides a stunning underwater garden, and snorkelling the fringing reef around the islands is on a par with snorkelling the outer reef.

BBC: Kayaking Australia��s Whitsunday Islands

Stony corals are microscopic animals with an outer skeleton of calcium carbonate that form colonies and are responsible for reef-building.

UNESCO: L O S S A R Y

The coral reef system stretches for 2, 600 kilometers and can be seen from outer space.

FORBES: India's Big Bet On Australian Coal